North Coast tribes receive $2.7 million for coronavirus emergency response

Three Indigenous tribes along the North Coast were among the country’s first to receive a share of $100 million in federal grant funding to help address housing or public health needs as they confront the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave individual awards of $900,000 to different Pomo bands at the Dry Creek, Stewarts Point and Redwood Valley rancherias. The three tribes, based in northern Sonoma and Mendocino counties, were included in the first $15 million of housing relief doled out for Native American communities in the CARES Act.

The Kashia tribe, whose Stewarts Point reservation spans the northernmost reaches of Sonoma County, is planning for the acquisition of an existing motel, and will use the grant dollars to help shelter up to 20 homeless.

Chairman Dino Franklin said first they have to find a property they can afford.

“We are definitely in the hunt for something that will meet the needs of tribal members and be strictly for those who are homeless to rest their head and be out of the elements,” he said. “But we may have to go out of the county to find an affordable one.”

The stimulus funding was prescribed primarily for housing to alleviate overcrowding in homes or to help residents isolate during quarantine, HUD officials said in a prepared statement.

“This funding will help Native Americans persevere during this unprecedented time,” said Hunter Kurtz, Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.

The money could also be used to bolster emergency operations, which is how Dry Creek tribal members in Geyserville intend to use their dollars.

The tribe is purchasing an ambulance and mobile medical bus with all the necessary equipment to help prevent COVID-19 and respond to its health impacts, according to a HUD spokesperson.

Attempts to reach Dry Creek Chairman Chris Wright and representatives from the Little River Band in Redwood Valley for comment Friday were unsuccessful.

Since March, Native American tribes have experienced some of the highest rates of coronavirus transmission in the country, although local Indigenous communities have so far fared better.

The Navajo Nation in Arizona, the largest reservation in size and population in the U.S., has tallied more than 8,000 confirmed cases and nearly 400 deaths. The death toll alone is higher than 15 states.

Roughly 3% of Sonoma County’s more than 1,500 coronavirus cases are either Black or Native American residents, which the county groups together in its demographic data. The Kashia tribe has had only one confirmed case, Franklin said.

“That part has been a total blessing,” he said. “General welfare and health has definitely been on the bright side, but that can change in a day.”

Many of the Kashia’s 860 members live in Santa Rosa, and the tribe has been able to help cover living expenses and bills for anyone who’s lost their job or been furloughed during the pandemic, Franklin said.

His Pomo band does not have a huge money-maker like a casino, so like many Sonoma County residents, for them, kick-starting the business economy is crucial to keeping their budget intact.

“Without that federal money, we’d be looking much worse,” Franklin said.

You can reach Staff Writer Yousef Baig at 707-521-5390 or yousef.baig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @YousefBaig.