SNOWE, COLLINS ANNOUNCE MORE THAN $2.5 MILLION IN INDIAN BLOCK GRANTS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -— U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today announced $2,519,749 in federal block grants to Native American housing projects throughout Maine. The grants are awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD).

"These federal housing grants will assist the Native American communities indigenous to Maine in modernizing established homes and in the construction of new units," Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement.

Native American Housing Assistance block grants assist in a variety of eligible affordable housing activities including rehabilitation, housing management, crime prevention and safety improvement. The federal grants are authorized under the Native American Housing and Self Determination Act of 1996.

The Native American Housing block grants were allocated as follows: · $1,150,377 to the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, on Indian Island. · $762,610 to the Pleasant Point Passamaquody Reservation Housing Authority, in Perry. · $606,762 to the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians, in Presque Isle. ###