The Washoe Housing Authority aims to provide as much affordable housing to its tribe members as possible.
“We have a have a wait list that has been ongoing since (the housing program) was created back in the ’70s,” said Martin Montgomery, the WHA’s executive director.
The agency—an arm of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California—currently manages 103 units in four communities in Carson City, Gardnerville and Woodfords, Calif., just a few miles south of the state line.
Montgomery said there are around 60 families on the waitlist for housing
“For the population size that we have, it’s pretty significant,” he said. The tribe numbers about 1,300 people.
The waitlist includes younger families and elders, whose housing needs can differ. “There’s a variety, and a wide need for single-family housing all the way up to duplexes and things like that,” Montgomery said. “It’s a challenge for sure.”
In September, the long, slow process of meeting that challenge took a major leap forward when the tribe was awarded almost $5 million ($4,966,168, to be exact) in Indian Housing Block Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Development.
The funds will be used to build 10 single-family houses in the Stewart Community in Carson City, near the southern end of Interstate 580. These are in addition two houses and some infrastructure—including 30 lots—that are already in the works, funded by a 2024 IHBG grant, this one for exactly $5 million.
“All 12 will be single family homes,” said Montgomery. “We are going to be doing a lease to purchase—so, ‘home ownership’ houses.
“They’re like an everyday kind of home that you’d find anywhere around Northern Nevada,” he said. They’re designed by Berger Hannafin Architecture in Carson City and will have either three or four bedrooms, vaulted ceilings and spacious living/dining areas. They will be built so that they can be converted for ADA compliance, if needed.
“The doors are a little bit bigger right off the bat,” Montgomery said—six inches wider than standard—and bathrooms are designed so that grab rails or handrails can be added easily.
“We’re trying to build our community,” Montgomery said. “I always feel like if you put people in good, quality homes, they’ll last longer—you’re going to reduce your maintenance over time. And not only that, but if they feel like it’s a nice place, hopefully they’ll take care of it, they’ll enjoy it. … They’re going to raise their family there. And so having a feel of ownership over it—it’s great.”