Spokane Indian Housing Authority
Spokane Indian Housing Authority provides opportunities for affordable, decent, safe, and sanitary housing on the Spokane Indian Reservation and surrounding service area.
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Recognizing the need for innovative housing solutions that honor Sp’q’n’iɁ lifeways, Spokane Indian Housing Authority (SIHA) conducted a tribal housing needs assessment to gain a deeper understanding of housing needs, strengths, and the interconnections between housing, economics, transportation, and other pertinent factors. Our role was to collaborate with SIHA and a locally defined advisory council to create and implement a survey, conduct community feedback sessions, and produce the report.
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Provide analyses of current and future affordable housing needs.
Identify the workforce within SIHA's service areas by industry and type.
Assess existing transportation options and needs of those living within the employment and service areas.
Determine the condition of SIHA's housing units and recommend solutions for improvement.
Provide the most up-to-date information for future housing development decisions.
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Results from the study helped SIHA purchase an apartment complex in Airways Heights (a neighboring city of Spokane). In accordance with recommendations from the assessment, SIHA set aside units for worker housing for casino employees and student housing for students attending college in the city of Spokane. This provides much needed housing while preventing 1.5-hour, one-way commutes to work and school through treacherous winter conditions. Findings from the study have also been used to complement planning efforts for a mixed-use housing development near tribal headquarters in Wellpinit.
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Sep 2022–Jun 2023
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Michael Brydge — Advisory council development, community listening session facilitation, research tool design, data collection and analysis, and report writing
“[Sweet Grass was] knowledgeable, responsive, nice, and easy to work with. [We appreciated] the attention to our needs and the responsiveness to get things done.” —Marnita Parr, Spokane Indian Housing Authority
