LOWER BRULE HOUSING AUTHORITY

GRANTS/DEVELOPMENT/REHAB DIVISION  

Hello,

Welcome to our New Grants/Development Division web page. I am very pleased to announce that the Lower Brule Housing Authority has successfully submitted and have been awarded through HUD’s Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) for the past several years. The funding has helped renovate and build new homes in the past years.  The (ICDBG) grant is a competitive type grant that the U.S. Department of Housing of Urban Development (HUD) has fortunately funded pending Congress’s approval.  Once Congress approves HUD’s budget with ICDBG funds included then all 570 Federally Recognized Tribes will compete for the budgeted amount set by HUD which is usually set at 65 to 70 million.  This means that not all tribes will be funded due to lack of capacity to administer the grant, didn’t achieve a score high enough with their grant application to be awarded or a Tribe or their (TDHE) Tribally Designated Housing Entity simply didn’t apply.

I would like to introduce our Grant Writing Team which is composed of over 150 yrs. in combined experience:

Stuart Langdeau;       Grants/Development Coordinator/Grant Writer

Jeannie Thompson;   CEO; LBHA/Grant Writer

Tiauna Obago;          Deputy Executive Director/Occupancy Director; LBHA

Sadie Flute;               Finance Director; LBHA

Jason Rouillard;        Project Superintendent

Brad Wilson;            Maintenance Supervisor; LBHA

This is where our story begins with every grant application. The team tracks available grants which the Housing Authority may be eligible for, and begins the process of working with the team to gather all the necessary data required for writing the grant. Once all data been compiled, the Grant writers; Stuart Langdeau and Jeannie Thompson begin the process of writing the grants and submitting them to the applicable agencies. Some grants are highly competitive, and others are based on Community Data. No grants are ever based on Enrollment data.Our grant application is composed of a (25-30) page written narrative outlining our present conditions and barriers, how we propose to sustainably utilize funding to help aide in overcoming some of our present problems like our over-crowdedness and vandalism to just name a few.  Attached to our narrative will be the housing and tribal resolutions, letters of commitments along with supportive data, demographics and maps from various depts. within the (TDHE) Lower Brule Housing Authority, the (LBST) Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and (B.I.A.) Bureau of Indian Affairs. The (TDHE) Lower Brule Housing Authority also solicits ideas and/or suggestions thru our citizens participation meeting we host prior to ICDBG grant submission. Due to Covid related guidelines that we follow, we will be soliciting ideas and suggestions thru the mail prior to submission of a ICDBG application.

All of the Grants we apply for are based solely on members living on the reservation and accounted for under the American Community Survey, or the Census data, which is why it is so vitally important for families to participate in census every ten years. This information impacts funding levels for years to come.

Once a Tribe has been awarded a grant, the crews will be scheduled to begin work once all grant documents are signed. Prior to commencement of work, the staff is required to submit an Environmental Review, in order for funding to be released to the Housing Authority. The funds are drawn down through an  Electronic Line of Credit Control System, through our Federal funding Agency.

The (ER) Environment Review is completed by Jason Rouillard, and submitted to the Grants/Development Coordinator and CEO for final review and approval. Once the (ER) has been approved it is submitted to HUD. Once HUD approves the (ER) the Housing Authority crews are cleared to begin their process.

The Procurement Team consists of Stuart Langdeau, Jeannie Thompson, Tiauna Obago, Troy Estes, Jason Rouillard and Brad Wilson. Each year the team sends members out in all directions within the State with a list of vendors to meet with. The staff meet with vendors, provide information packets on the upcoming project and answer any questions related to the procurement process being utilized and discuss any past problems with merchandise, delays in orders of materials and such. A deadline date is set for submission of sealed bid quotes from the vendors interested in applying. 

Once the deadline date arrives, the team sets up a follow up date to open the bids and begin evaluating the bids submitted and selecting the successful bidders. Once selected, the bidders are notified and the orders are placed, so work can commence.

See Procurement Policies under the Policies tab.

The Rehab Crew:

Jason Rouillard;      Construction Superintendent                          Rodney Smith;        Lead Foremen

 Davis Grooms;        Rehab./Maintenance Inspector                      Virgil Cortez;          Foremen

Allan GrassRope;    Carpenter/Drywall                                         Ben Thompson III; Carpenter/Drywall

Tanner Rouillard;    Carpenter/Trainee                                          Ty Gourneau;          Carpenter/Trainee

Justin Bowker;        Carpenter/Trainee                                         Vacant Position;     Carpenter/Trainee

The Lower Brule Rehabilitation Crew is located in a separate building on the north side of the Housing complex. The Ted Rouillard/Lyle Whitney Jr. Memorial Warehouse has offices for the program, and houses all our equipment, materials and supplies. The Crews and staff operate out of the facility. The Grants/Development Coordinator and Construction Supt. has an office in the main office facility.