I recently attended the Colville Indian Housing Authority’s grand opening celebration for its third Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) project. The project, named Eagle Nest, built 12 new single-family homes and four duplexes, which are reserved for tribal elders, and a community center in Omak, WA.
Virgil is an elder who has a new home, thanks to this project. He lives in one of the four duplexes and spoke to the crowd at the grand opening celebration about his new home. Virgil said that the homes are “state of the art,” and that everyone who worked on the project “did a great job!”
After the speeches were all done, I sat down with Virgil and talked to him about his new home. Here’s a summary of our discussion:
Virgil first learned about the project from his sister who lives on the reservation. She suggested that he apply for one of the new homes so he could move back to the reservation — he had been living in an RV park in Spokane. Virgil applied and was originally offered a single-family home. He suggested that the single-family home be offered to a family, and he preferred one of the duplexes.
Virgil is very happy to be back on the reservation living in the community where he grew up, he said. Virgil’s family also lives on the reservation. His sister and brother live nearby, and his daughter is even closer — just down the road! Virgil is retired and couldn’t be happier to “live out his days” there, he said.
I asked Virgil what his favorite thing was about his new home. He couldn’t pick just one! He answered with “everything is so nice,” and he joked that the handicapped-accessible showers are huge!
It was nice to meet you, Virgil! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. The Eagle Nest homes are beautiful, and we are happy for all of the new residents!
