Osage Nation to build solutions for ‘housing crisis’

Written By: Chelsea T. Hicks

(OSAGE RESERVATION) Housing availability is scarce on the Osage Nation reservation.

Read this story on Osage News here.

For years, a lack of options, as well as high housing costs, has affected everyone from low-income renters to employees of the Osage Nation Health System.

“Most people are driven out of the local area,” said ONHS CEO Mark Rogers, who has experienced both personal and professional challenges due to the lack of housing options.

ON Housing Department Director Brandon Wallace said it’s a “housing crisis” and he plans to address the problem with low-income and free market rentals.

“We get a lot of calls, it’s very difficult for people,” he said. “The homes that people are finding to purchase are outdated and need quite a bit of work. That turns into a financial situation.”

The trend of fixer-uppers means that current rental options are run-down homes that neither the owners nor tenants are taking care of or remodeling. Ashley Dailey, a local realtor who often works with Native American clients looking for housing in Osage County, described the long-term rental market as a “nightmare.”

Additional problems tend to encroach on older builds, from weather issues to perceived outside market opportunities. Recently, the Housing Department received 34 insurance claims for storm wind damage. At the same time, an influx of private landlords from California renting property in Oklahoma are refusing to take care of their properties, said ON Housing Program Coordinator Marissa Turley.

Turley often travels for training with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She recently went to a training where the need for tribal housing was the main topic, and she said that the housing crisis is affecting tribal communities across Indian Country.

“There just isn’t housing,” Turley said. “Tribes have the ability to receive funding to build, and they have tribal revenue to build. These private landlords are not building. We’re in a housing crisis across the nation.

“I don’t know what has caused these large companies out of California [to come to Oklahoma],” she added. “They don’t care about the people.”

The main problem is the lack of maintenance by private landlords, she said.

Low-income rentals

Within the next couple of months, ON Housing is slated to have a few low-income rental homes available via a HUD-funded program.

“I currently have three home ownership homes that I am going to be transitioning over,” Wallace said. “That is a short-term quick fix.” Currently, he is reviewing HUD policy to confirm that the homes can become rentals.

At the same time, Housing is planning to build new low-income rental homes. While words like “assistance” and “low income” are a central part of the plan, these rental homes are going to be high quality, according to Wallace. “The Osage Nation takes pride in everything that we build. We do not want to put out a product that has any kind of negative light to it. … We’re going to maintain our properties,” he said.

Low-income rental tenants will have the responsibility of mowing their own lawns, he said, and they will be fined if they do not. As for maintenance calls, Housing will respond and do the repairs.

Landscaping will be a part of the properties to enhance the curb appeal of the rental homes. Wallace is also looking into green shade homes to help with energy costs, he said.

Fair market rentals

Another program coming from ON Housing will offer “fair market” rentals.

According to Investopedia, a “fair market rate” is the price that a home would sell for, under current market conditions, assuming that both the buyer and the seller are seeking the best possible price.

Wallace has been working with the ON attorney general to develop the program policy, which could be released as soon as September, he said.

“I’ve been working with a developer on the plans for that. We have a tentative floor plan picked out, some final details for what we want … changing a few minor things once we get everything lined out exactly how we want it.”

Fair market rate?

With the concept of a “fair market rate” in Pawhuska, Rogers’ concerns that the market is artificially 33 percent higher than surrounding areas come up. He explained, “When I arrived in 2022, the least expensive apartment or home I could find ranged from $2,100 to $2,900 per month,” Rogers said. “For a one or two bedroom.” That market bubble could be due to work on the “Killers of the Flower Moon”film, the pandemic, or legacy effects of the oil boom, Rogers said, but “it’s real … I’ve never seen the type of challenges I’ve seen here in Pawhuska.”

The Nation’s plans to build more units might be the thing needed to help stabilize the market, according to the law of supply and demand. As Leslie Kramer of Investopedia wrote, “normally, when supply increases and demand doesn’t [increase], prices go down.”

ON Housing’s intention for the fair market rental program is that it will pay for itself, Wallace said. He doesn’t see anything interfering with that.

Who can participate?

The new rental homes will be open to tribally enrolled Native Americans, and the first new units built will be in the fair market rental program. They will be located on Melody and Sunset Lanes off E. 13th and E. 11th Streets in Pawhuska.

The neighborhood has 23 lots, and the Nation already owns dozens of lots it can build on within and surrounding the Pawhuska area.

Rogers is hopeful that the local market will see more viable options and housing units become available for the Osage people, he said.

Wallace said the Pawhuska area is the first priority, and after that, Housing will evaluate building in Fairfax and Hominy as well.

“Skiatook is also on our radar as far as building, and I’m not against expanding out into all of Osage County,” he said.

Looking ahead

Wallace’s background is in construction, and the move to more computer-focused desk and administrative work has been a transition, he said. But he said it’s worth it when he helps people.

“What really got me to love this job is seeing people’s faces. All the hard days. A lot of office time staring at a computer. It’s worth it,” he said.

Wallace is open to speaking to any Osage people about what they would like to see in housing. “My door is always open to Osage members that have questions or concerns. I’m pretty accessible. I’m always open to new ideas and new innovative ways to do things, because construction processes and techniques change constantly and to stay up with the current building codes, you can’t just get comfortable with, ‘this is the way we always do it.’ So I’m absolutely open to new ideas, and things like that.”

The Housing Department receives questions from out-of-state Osages, as well, he said. People call and ask, “Is there housing available? What’s in Osage County for us if we do move back?”

It’s a question that is on his mind. “I like to plan ahead and look for those issues that may arise in the future. I don’t want to be taken by surprise–that’s how I’ve always been. I want to be prepared, and I want to provide.”

Tribal HUD VASH program may house more veterans

One thing that’s coming up next is a program for veterans, he said.

“We’re looking at putting some homes in Skiatook just for tribal veterans, to fill in on that side of things,” he said.

HUD is offering an expansion on the Tribal HUD VASH program, which stands for Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing. Turley has led the push to seek more vouchers for veterans. “It’s my dream,” she said.

The homes that would be built to house veterans would be “project-based vouchers,” she said, “[meaning] it would stay with the home, and the voucher would not follow the veteran. You can do tenant-based vouchers that follow the tenant wherever they go, or project-based [vouchers].”

The project-based vouchers may be coming in the form of new builds for veterans, but it depends on the results of the federal grant.

“We’re having a hard time placing our veterans in decent, affordable housing,” Turley said. “We have four or five Osage veterans in our Senior Housing … the ones that live in Tulsa, they’re not Osage, it’s open to all Natives.

“A lot of guys in Tulsa are living in substandard conditions [at] large management companies that don’t want to do the repairs, but want to accept the rent. They want to charge over-market because they know it’s a federal grant.

“Our inspectors go down and inspect them and tell us how terrible the conditions are. We thought if we could [have] our own [units] it could be better,” Turley said.

Turley has been working with HUD and veterans since 2021.

She has seen the effects of helping veterans and believes in the “housing first” approach.

“It will impact the veteran in such a positive way, when they come into the program … they help them with finances, if they have addiction problems [the veterans receive help], they help them go to doctors’ appointments,” Turley explained, noting that this approach is called “housing first.”

“It’s housing first, then we offer all these other services to get them on their feet and graduate off the program, if they wish. …“The housing is terrible and it’s not just here, it’s across the whole nation … our answer to that is we’re just going to [build.]”

To review opportunities for housing, visit the Osage Nation Housing Department at https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/services/housing.