- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Real Estate
The nation’s oldest Native community development financial institution will expand access to mortgage financing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after joining a U.S. Department of Agriculture home loan program.
Lakota Funds received $764,000 from USDA Rural Development through the agency’s Single Family Housing Direct Home Loans relending demonstration program. The funding will provide working capital for home loans to Native borrowers on Pine Ridge Reservation.
The Kyle, S.D.-based lender was founded in 1986 to expand access to capital and financial services on the Pine Ridge Reservation and is widely recognized as the nation’s first Native CDFI.
Deputy Director Ellen White Thunder told Tribal Business News that the organization was ready to put the funds to use to support “foundational” stability and economic growth.
“Access to programs and resources that support homebuyers can help strengthen families and contribute to the long-term prosperity of the Oglala Lakota Nation,” White Thunder said. “We appreciate investments that help address housing challenges in our communities and expand pathways to homeownership for tribal members.”
Two other Native CDFIs in South Dakota already participate in the demonstration program. Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial, also on Pine Ridge, has received nearly $3.1 million since 2018. Four Bands Community Fund on the Cheyenne River Reservation has received more than $4.8 million.
USDA Rural Development reports that more than $8.6 million has been invested in South Dakota through the initiative. Nationally, the agency has directed more than $24.7 million to participating lenders in 12 additional states since 2023.
The program allows qualified CDFIs to relend federal capital directly to homebuyers in rural and tribal areas.
