The Luak Group

06/09/2026

🏠 The 2026 NAHI Grant Round Opened Monday, June 1

The Native American Housing Initiatives Grants Program (NAHI) is open for its 2026 funding round, with $4 million available to support Native American tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs) serving tribal members in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

Eligible entities may receive up to $500,000 for housing and community development activities, including new construction, housing rehabilitation, down payment assistance, rental assistance, program development, strategic planning, lending capital, technology, and capacity-building efforts.

The application window closes July 10, 2026.

If your Tribe or TDHE would like assistance preparing a competitive NAHI application, please contact The Luak Group at:

📧 [email protected]

Tribes and tribally designated housing entities in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma can compete for up to $500,000 each through a new $4 million housing grant program from Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka.

The 2026 Native American Housing Initiatives Grants Program supports projects ranging from home repairs and new construction to planning, technology upgrades and other capacity-building efforts. Applications must be submitted through a member financial institution of the Federal Home Loan Bank system.

Last year's program funded projects including tiny homes for tribal veterans, housing rehabilitation, rental housing development, storm shelters and infrastructure improvements, Tribal Business News reports.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3PNCs4A

Worth sharing with tribal leaders and Native housing professionals in the four target states.

06/06/2026

From helping families achieve homeownership to supporting Elders with critical home repairs, the Comanche Nation Housing Authority remains committed to improving lives across southwest Oklahoma.

Read about CNHA's impact and ongoing investments in this month's Comanche Nation News:https://www.comanchenation.com/sites/default/files/fileattachments/communications/page/7100/tcnn_june_2026.pdf

06/05/2026

I am honored to share that I have accepted a new role serving as Interim Housing Director for the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria.

In this role, I will support the Tribe’s housing priorities through interim leadership, program and project coordination, compliance guidance, staff support, and capacity-building as the Housing Department continues moving important work forward.

This opportunity is deeply aligned with the work I have committed my career to: helping tribal communities move from funding to implementation, strengthen internal systems, and build long-term housing capacity rooted in sovereignty, compliance, and community need.

I will continue to support my current clients through The Luak Group. This interim leadership role is an expansion of that work and an opportunity to bring my national Indian housing experience into direct service with a community working to advance housing stability, project delivery, and sustainable internal capacity.

I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria and look forward to working alongside Tribal leadership, the Housing Board, staff, and community partners to support the Tribe’s housing priorities.

— Brandi L. Liberty
CEO, The Luak Group
Interim Housing Director, Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria

06/04/2026

Proud to be featured in the June 2026 issue of Sheconomy™ Magazine. 🏡

This feature reflects the lane I’ve committed to—protecting Indian housing and strengthening the systems that make sovereignty real: funding strategy that holds up under scrutiny, housing stability, governance capacity, and implementation that doesn’t collapse when the headlines change.

One of the most important leadership lessons I’ve learned is that doing this work requires backbone. There will always be voices—sometimes even respected ones—who encourage restraint when the stakes are high. But Tribal communities facing housing shortages, overcrowding, and compliance pressure can’t afford a “wait and see” approach.

“Leadership sometimes requires choosing clarity over comfort.”

Thank you, She Rises Studios, for elevating this conversation and The Luak Group through Sheconomy™ Magazine.

📣 Quick question for Indian Country: what systems does Tribal housing need most to withstand political shifts?
~ Respond in the Comments

06/01/2026

Today would have been my grandma’s 111th birthday. This first photo of her was taken 102 years ago tomorrow, on the day she became a US citizen following the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, when she was 9 years old. Read that again…SHE WASN’T ALLOWED TO BE A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES UNTIL SHE WAS 9!!! The oldest of 17 siblings, she was born on the lands of the Ioway in Kansas but was not afforded the right to be a citizen of the country she was born in until nine years after her birth. 🪶✨

On June 2, 1924, (102 years ago tomorrow) Congress enacted the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. (The right to vote, however, was governed by state law; until 1957, some states barred Native Americans from voting.) 102 years ago wasn’t that long ago…my ancestors within two generations of me had no inalienable rights. The Declaration of Independence calls us savages. We are the only people in the world that have identification cards we must carry that identify our race and tribal enrollment status. We are the minority of the minorities. According to the US census, there are an estimated 4.3 million people that solely identify as American Indian and Alaska
Native and 7.1 million that identify talone or in combination with another race. 🪶✨

My grandma was a force to be reckoned with in our tribal community, you didn’t tell her no. She worked our youth and tribal councils hard, ensuring they represented the best of our Ioway people. She paved the road, literally, with the state of Nebraska by lobbying funding to lay an asphalt road between the Ioway reservation and the neighboring community of Rulo. She put our tribal youth to work on the reservation and in Rulo, teaching them skills that so many still talk about today. 🪶✨

My grandma passed when I was only 12 years old, but the memories I have of her still resonate in my heart and mind. As a child she ensured I knew who I was and where I came from, passing on oral traditions and stories of our ancestors. I’m the second to the youngest of 19 grandchildren, and although my time with her was short, the influence and guidance she had on me guided me to where I am today. In my work with Native people she is the ancestral guidance I talk to when I need the strength and courage to make a difference. I miss her dearly, even after all these years. The tears flow as I am humbled by the path she laid for me. I hope I have made her proud. 🪶✨

Today and through the coming days I ask of all of you to learn more about the Indian Citizenship Act and Native American rights. Stop the injustices towards one another and focus on the common good within the communities you live in and the friends you keep. 🪶✨

Happy heavenly birthday grandma…
Ethil Mae Liberty (Simmonds, Campbell), Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, June 1, 1915

05/30/2026