The Tribal Housing Grant Fund is a first-in-the-nation program that consolidates a single state funding source to address the housing needs of Tribal Nations in Oregon.
Funding requirements
In 2025, the Oregon Legislature allocated $10 million to OHCS to expand the housing resources available to the Nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon to include affordable rental housing and homeownership projects, and to maintain the By and For Initiative-Native American Tribes of Oregon (BAFI-NATO) investments.
Tribal Nations will receive funds based on a formula that was previously used by the BAFI-NATO program, where each grantee receives a base amount along with Tribal enrollment numbers.
Eligibility
Tribes can use the funding for activities including:
- Homelessness response and prevention programs
- Shelter, transitional, homelessness prevention, housing-focused activities
- Affordable rental housing
- Operations, preservation, support services, rental assistance
- Homeownership programs
- Down payment assistance, mortgage assistance, home repairs
- Land acquisition, infrastructure, development, rehabilitation and conversion of emergency shelter/transitional, affordable rental and homeownership projects
- Operations and maintenance of existing affordable housing sites, shelter and transitional housing projects
- Financial assistance and support services for households that qualify (rental assistance, housing payments, case management)
- Capacity building
- Administrative costs
Participant eligibility for homelessness response and prevention projects will be based on housing status. For affordable rental and homeownership projects, household income must be equal to or less than 120% of the area median income.
How to apply and program requirements
To obtain the funds, grantees will submit a housing plan every biennium outlining how they will use their funding allocation to address their Tribal communities’ housing needs. Receiving grant funding does not preclude Tribes from applying for other OHCS funding opportunities. Affordable Rental Housing funding is also available to Tribal Nations through the Oregon Centralized Application (ORCA) process and is separate from the Tribal Housing Grant Fund.
Funding will be distributed after approval of the housing plans. Grantees will be expected to report annually on the activities approved in each grantee’s housing plan and produce backup documentation for all expenditures. If a grantee requests $1 million or more for a single housing development in their housing plan, OHCS will seek Housing Stability Council approval.
More information
Contact
tribal.housing@hcs.oregon.gov