The Yavapai-Apache Nation held a ground-breaking ceremony on Thursday, May 1 for 40 new tax credit homes and three Helping Hands homes off East Cherry Creek Road. The homes were blessed by the Y-AN in a ceremony that featured traditional songs and dancing. Y-A-N Tribal Council members at the event included Chairwoman Tanya Lewis and Vice Chairman Ricardo Pacheco, as well as Camp Verde Mayor Marie Moore and Clarkdale Mayor Robyn Prud’homme-Bauer.
The Nation has tribal lands adjacent to both Camp Verde and Clarkdale. Cora-Lei Marquez, a former tribal council-woman and manager of the Nation’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention program, calledthe new homes incredibly important since the Nation holds a limited amount of land.
“A lot of people who have left the Verde Valley never had an opportunity to come back because there was no housing,” Marquez said. “Now there’s an opportunity for you to come back, to reconnect with your family, to reconnect with your culture, and reconnect with who you areas a member of the Yavapai-Apache Nation.”
The foundations for the first homes will be laid next week and local housing authorities said the cost of the program is expected to be $22 million. The three Helping Hands homes will be transitional homes that will be avail-able to tribal members who have left the reservation, including for mental health or addiction reasons, but are in need of a place to stay. Marquez said the Nation intends to allow members to live in them for a minimum of six months to two years while being given support and counseling services.
“They’ll also learn some basic life skills so they can be self-sufficient,” Marquez said, adding that they will also be offered what she called a “wellbriety” program that combines practices from Alcoholics Anonymous with American Indian traditions. Two of the homes will be for males and the other home will be for females, with each house being occupied by two people.
“We’re hoping that from this project we’ll be able to at some point, one time, in the future be able to have our own residential facility, where instead of sending people out for recovery, it will happen here within our own nation,” Marquez said. “Another thing is being able to incorporate a youth component here for our juveniles. Not only do adults deal with mental health and addiction, so do juveniles, not only here in Indian Country in our community but outside. So having a safe space for everybody is our ultimate goal.” Rent for the transitional homes will start at $100 per month and the construction costs are estimated to be $2.5million.
