Enterprise Foundation Awards $50K to Lac Courte Oreilles

The Enterprise Foundation has awarded a $50,000 community supportive housing grant from the Enterprise Rural and Native American Initiative to the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Government. The grant application was submitted by Sawyer County Development Corporation (SCDC) on behalf of Lac Courte Oreilles and brings new funding to develop a sustainable supportive housing development for individuals and families in need at Lac Courte Oreilles.

In 2011, Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Chairman Gordon Thayer, Vice Chairman Bill Morrow and SCDC Executive Director Scott Allen joined a contingency of housing professionals, Sawyer County Sheriff Mark Kelsey, and others in touring sustainable housing developments on the Fond du Lac reservation and Minnesota. The tour was arranged by Ms. Zoe LeBeau of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) in Minnesota. Impressed by the impact supportive housing had on those communities, Lac Courte Oreilles and SCDC collaborated to apply for the supportive housing grant. LeBeau of CSH assisted LCO and SCDC with the Enterprise grant application.

Similar tribal supportive housing initiatives on the White Earth and Fond du Lac Reservations in Minnesota have been utilized to develop townhome-style houses with extensive on-site supportive services for distressed individuals and families living in poverty or formerly homeless. The support housing projects at White Earth and Fond du Lac provide healthy and safe, affordable housing to residents. According to the Enterprise Rural and Native American Initiative, supportive housing communities provide residents access to counseling, case management services, and advocacy, including support and follow-up services.

“A location has yet to be determined, and we look forward to working with Enterprise in making this a successful supportive housing project for the LCO community,” said Anona LaRonge, who serves as project assistant for the grant. “There has been a need for such housing and I’m glad we can move ahead with plans for its construction.”

The $50,000 grant award will go toward planning for a supportive housing development similar to White Earth and Fond du Lac, “with hopefully as much success as the White Earth and Fond du Lac projects have achieved,” LaRonge added.

“We saw the positive impact the Enterprise funding can have when we toured the Fond du Lac development and realized the great potential for such a development here at Lac Courte Oreilles,” said Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Chairman Gordon Thayer. “We appreciate the support of Enterprise in helping us with this initiative.”

A committee of community development, housing and social service professionals has been appointed by the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board to oversee the planning and development of the project.

The Enterprise Foundation through its Rural and Native American Initiative has invested over $100 million in grants, loans and equity to Native American communities since 1997. This funding has brought about development of more than 1,700 homes in 20 states.

Read More

3 New Tribal Police Officers Sworn in April 13

Three new Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Police Officers were sworn in by Judge J. Mohr at a ceremony April 13, 2012. The officers will be immediately assigned to patrol on the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation.

Read More

New Community Safety Center Established at Lac Courte Oreilles

A new Lac Courte Oreilles Safety Center has been established and was lauded by law enforcement, tribal government and community organizers at a ribbon cutting ceremony June 12. The Safety Center is the first of its kind on the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation and provides safe haven for community members, youth and families.
Made possible by the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board, financial support from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (Minn.) and organizers including Jeff Crone of the newly-established "On Eagle's Wings," the Safety Center is now open to the community. The center serves as both an emergency safe haven for Lac Courte Oreilles community members and a place for tribal youth with basketball courts and planned volleyball and kickball areas to be constructed.
"It’s the eyes of the neighborhood, it’s community involvement by community members to keep the community safe. We’ve started a lot of good initiatives because we have a lot of good people working together," said Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Chairman Gordon Thayer. "For example, if there was a domestic situation, 2 o’clock in the morning, people had nowhere to go, they could come here and we can make a call. We’ve invited law enforcement here." Center staff will be trained to use police radios should the need arise to contact law enforcement directly.
Flanked by Sawyer County Sheriff Mark Kelsey, and officers from Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Police and City of Hayward Police Department, Thayer re-iterated the tribe’s commitment to creating a safe community.

"We’re sick and tired of the negative things that go on in our community," Thayer added. "For the first time ever, Lac Courte Oreilles is meeting regularly with tribal, county and city law enforcement together. We really appreciate Sheriff Kelsey and his hard work in the community. He’s right here when we need him at Lac Courte Oreilles."
"You have a commitment from law enforcement," said Sheriff Kelsey in a brief address. "For the first time that I can remember – and I’ve been in law enforcement for 33 years – we have all law enforcement working together and meeting for one goal and that’s to keep our community safe."
Project organizer Crone said many at Lac Courte Oreilles helped make the Safety Center a reality, and credited youth participation to help get the center up and running.
"The seriousness in our community of the gang issue, with alcohol, drugs and crime, we want to step forward with prevention efforts and that's what the Safety Center is all about," Crone said.
Joined by Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board Vice Chairman Bill Morrow, a retired Tribal Police Chief, and Council Member Larry Kagigebi, Council Member Rusty Barber also spoke at the event, recalling how times have changed on the reservation.
"It really does take a community to raise our children. Our youth need playgrounds, they need somewhere to play and be safe, and have someone to talk to – we have ears here willing to listen," he said. "We'd like to see this expand into other Lac Courte Oreilles communities in New Post, Whitefish, Signor – and those will be additional goals we strive to attain."
Barber thanked Chairman Thayer and Crone, and also thanked law enforcement officials.
"I commend our law enforcement, but they can’t do it alone – it takes community involvement," Barber said. "We’ve been struggling with our gang and alcohol problems for many years. Here we have another stepping stone to combat these problems."
The Safety Center is located on Water Tower Lane in the Drytown community and will be open to the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Read More