Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians recently closed with equity investor Raymond James Affordable Housing Investments to begin construction on its affordable housing development, Bi’du Khaale. The development will provide 25 new single-family homes and a community building for elder Dry Creek members in Sonoma County.
“In an area with some of the highest housing costs in the country, this development will be an oasis of safe and affordable homes for some of our most vulnerable Tribal members,” said Chris Wright, chairman of Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. “It will change their lives.”
Bi’du Khaale received a 2022 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and 2022 California State LIHTC award from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) that generated $14.3 million in investor equity from Raymond James Affordable Housing Investments (RJAHI) for the development.
Bi’du Khaale includes the new construction of 25 homes and a community building. One home will serve as a manager’s unit. The homes are intended for multi-generational families and include two and three-bedroom layouts with a covered porch and an attached garage. The 2,975-square-foot community building includes a fitness room, a kitchen and a large activity room for elders and youth.
Dry Creek partnered with Travois for consulting, architecture design and asset management and compliance services. Travois is a Certified B Corporation focused exclusively on promoting affordable housing and economic development for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities.
About Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians
Oral tradition recounts that Creator brought Humans into the world when he planted different feathers in the ground at Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys, in what is known today as California’s northern inland Sonoma County, thus bringing the Mihilakawna (“west water people”) and the Ona?tátis (“the people who speak plainly and truthfully”) into being. Anthropologists named us Dry Creek Pomo and Western Wappo and have determined that humans have lived here for at least 10,000 years, confirming that this land has been home to the ancestors of Dry Creek Rancheria members virtually since time immemorial.
For many millennia, the natural fertility of our homeland provided a settled and satisfying life. But starting in the early 1800s that life changed catastrophically. During more than a century of violence and discrimination, it was the courage and resilience of our elders who held us together and carried on our traditions. Our people have always valued and cared for our elders. The Bi’du Khaale Elder Village, our first Tribally-owned housing stock, is a present-day expression of our gratitude and care for them.
