Tribe completes Housing Needs Assessment

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Engineering & Community Development Department has completed a Housing Study and Needs Assessment, with assistance from more than 500 Tribal community members, who participated in a survey.

Tribal Community Development Manager Kristen Svicarovich said the participation provided “critical feedback that helped shape the assessment’s findings and recommendations.”

The information from the survey allowed the Tribe to gather “valuable input on existing housing conditions, barriers to obtaining housing and preferences for future housing options,” Svicarovich said in an email. “Community engagement was a central component of the assessment process,” including community meetings as well as a survey.”

She added that preferences for future housing types include the following: Low-income Elder housing and low-income apartments such as duplexes, triplexes, townhouse and low-rise apartments; as well as market rate, single-family homeownership opportunities for both freestanding homes and choices such as duplexes or townhouses.

The study advanced actions identified in the Tribe’s 2019 Strategic Plan and Grand Ronde 2033 Community Development Plan, Svicarovich said, and concluded with a housing implementation plan.

“(It) integrates housing demand forecasts with land availability and development constraints to establish a 20-year housing strategy organized into three implementation tiers,” she said. “The study serves as a foundational planning document that informed several related initiatives, including the 2025 Campus Master Plan Update, 2026 Climate Adaptation Plan and the ongoing development of the Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Utility Master Plans.”

Tribal Council adopted the assessment at its Wednesday, June 3 meeting.

Tribal members may contact Kristen.Svicarovich@grandronde.org for more information.