Letter from the Director

SKHA Director Jason Adams (Lailani Upham photo)

Welcome to Tipi News. The Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority (SKHA) will be inserting Tipi News into the Char-Koosta on a quarterly basis. The idea behind Tipi News is simple: we want to inform the tribal membership and particularly our SKHA tenants of information and news of what is happening at SKHA.

Future Tipi News articles will discuss all of the programs and services of SKHA. We will also present new programs or services that are beginning or changes to existing programs and services. I want to take a moment and introduce the six departments of SKHA and how they all uniquely serve the Tribal Membership and the Housing tenants. There is Housing Resource, Occupancy, Maintenance, Water and Sewer, Finance, and Administration.

The Housing Resource Department is managed by Katie McClure. This department encompasses and serves a wide variety of people with various programs. First is the In-take and Eligibility where anyone who is interested in renting a home from SKHA can apply and see if they qualify. The Flathead Finance program which conducts First Time Homebuyer classes, financial and credit counseling, homebuyer assistance and foreclosure assistance. The Home Improvement and weatherization program assists homeowners with repairs and weatherization. The transitional Living Center is a program for those who do not have a home or family to live with and gives people a temporary place to stay for six months. The Development and Compliance officer works towards and oversees new development and ensures that SKHA is in compliance with the Federal Tax program that SKHA has. Last but not least there is the Residential Opportunity Self Sufficiency Coordinator who is working with tenants in providing tools to become more financially and independently sufficient.

The Occupancy Department is managed by Ruby Vanderburg. This department oversees and manages all tenants of SKHA. They ensure that the units are taken proper care of along with the surrounding communities. They work with the tenants to ensure that the rules and regulations of SKHA’s are followed. These rules and regulations are not established to keep people out of housing but to ensure safe communities where people want to live.

The Maintenance Department is managed by Bud Gillin. The maintenance staff work diligently in keeping the areas and homes clean and up to standard. At the SKHA communities they provide snow plowing and de-icing in the winter, sweeping of streets, and mowing in the summer and general repairs and maintenance to the rentals. For low-income homeowners there is also the Emergency Home Repair in which SKHA provides $1,500.00 on emergency home repair items, for example plumbing problems or leaking roofs.

The Water and Sewer Department is managed by Carl Dupuis. The water and sewer department maintains 28 community systems for water and waste water. They also install septic and well systems for Tribal Members.

The Finance Department is managed by Carolyn Weivoda. The staff of finance does all of the accounts receivable and payables, procurement, and manages all accounting books to prepare for the final audit. The 2011 audit was a successful unqualified audit.

The Administration Department is managed by Carrie Irvine. This staff includes the computer IT help for housing, a majority of the personnel issues, payroll, travel for the SKHA staff, and are the administrative assistants for Housing.

Although these are brief introductions of the departments at SKHA, the goal and intentions of Tipi News is to highlight the programs and services that each department offers to the Tribal Membership. If you have any questions in regards to these programs please contact one of our managers and they will help you or refer you to their staff member who can assist you.

Tipi News will also discuss issues on the national level that will affect SKHA. There are a lot of activities and issues being addressed nationally and we try to stay on top of those issues to make sure that our voice is heard and our concerns are considered.

I hope that you will find all of the information that will be presented informative. Please read all of our articles and information and if you have any questions or recommendations for future articles please contact SKHA. Additional information about SKHA can be found on our website at www.skha.org.

Thank you,

Jason Adams,
Executive Director
Salish Kootenai Housing Authority