PEMBROKE — The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina will be able to reach more veterans that are homeless or at risk of being homeless thanks to a program expansion grant awarded this week.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded $4.4 million in Tribal HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, or Tribal HUD-VASH, grants to 28 Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities. This includes $1 million in expansion grants that will help house approximately 95 additional veterans.

The Lumbee Tribe of N.C. received a renewal award of their program for $178,529 and an expansion award of $197,130.

“It’s a competitive program,” Lumbee Trible Chairman Harvey Godwin Jr. said. “There were only five tribes across the nation that got this. It just tell how far our housing department has come. It tells the commitment they have to veterans.”

The expansion grants were awarded to three existing Tribal HUD-VASH grant recipients which include the Lumbee Tribe; and two new Tribal HUD-VASH grant recipients, Apsaalooke Nation Housing Authority and Fort Hall Housing Authority.

The Lumbee Tribe currently assist 20 homeless veterans. The expansion will double that number to 40 homeless veterans.

“We see it as an honor that the federal government, they came in and they looked at that program and looked at our policy and saw how we administered these federal funds, and they see us as a worthy enough organization to expand and actually double the program so we’re proud of the fact,” said Bradley Locklear director of Housing Service for the tribe. “That’s just like a salute to us that we’re doing this thing right.”

The Tribal HUD-VASH program provides housing and supportive services to Native American Veterans who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness by combining rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by the Veterans Association.

The Lumbee Tribe has been a part of the program since 2016, providing homes for veterans through a voucher system, piloted by Janice Locklear, Lumbee tribal HUD-VASH program manager.

“With Fort Bragg being in our back yard, historically, our tribal members have always served many different roles and branches of the military so we have a large pool, a big demographic, of veterans in the Lumbee Tribe,” Locklear said. “We were able to utilize that to not only benefit the tribe but to benefit the greater Robeson County area to house veterans, to provide that resource in addition to all the other services out there.”

“With our voucher program, we can put them in a private, market, or rental situation; or we can put them in some of the housing stock we have through the housing department,” said Locklear added.

In 2015, Congress authorized funding for a Tribal demonstration program in order to expand the HUD-VASH program into Indian Country. HUD was directed to coordinate with tribes, TDHEs, and other appropriate Tribal organizations on the design of this program and to ensure the effective delivery of housing assistance and supportive services to eligible Native American Veterans.

Since its inception, the program has housed almost 600 Native American Veterans and has provided case management services to many more. Tribes will be able to reach more Veterans with today’s expansion of the program.

“Our nation’s Veterans made the ultimate sacrifice and are more than deserving of a decent and stable place to call home,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “These grants allow Tribes to provide housing and supportive services to Native American Veterans and their families. Today’s announcement includes a strong expansion of this vital program that allows us to serve even more individuals in need.”

“It is exciting to see the growth of this program that serves American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans struggling with homelessness,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “The expansion of existing programs and inclusion of additional Tribal locations means that Veterans will have access to housing and case management supportive services close to home. These services reinforce the value of caring for our Veterans who courageously served our great nation.”

One major HUD-VASH project will soon come to fruition this Veterans Day, the construction of a Veterans Village in Raynham. The project consists of placing of 10 14-by-64-foot single-wide mobile homes in the community, that will be furnished, maintained and secured by the tribe.

“FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has surplused modular, mobile homes, and they donated them to us with the stipulation that we use them for veteran housing,” Locklear said.

Having a father that was veteran who did not have the resources available today is what has driven Godwin to increase services for veterans, not only with housing, but in education and job training.

“I wanted to follow the need that he didn’t have,” Godwin said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

Godwin said there are many projects in the pipeline for the next administration tailored for assisting veterans.