Lake Superior Community Development Corp. helped finance a home purchase for the borrower pictured at left. The Native CDFI will receive $800,000 from USDA to help seven households buy homes. Credit: Lake Superior Community Development Corp. via Facebook

Overview:

USDA financing will help six Native CDFIs fund 43 home purchases and 25 home repairs, expanding access to housing loans across tribal communities in six states.

Six Native lenders will receive nearly $6.2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through its Native Community Development Financial Institution Relending Demonstration Program to support homeownership and home repairs in tribal communities across six states, according to a USDA news release.

USDA expects the financing to support 43 home purchase loans and 25 home repair loans for Native borrowers on rural tribal lands. The recipients are:

  • Chehalis Tribal Loan Fund (Washington) — $1.3 million to help seven households purchase homes.
  • Haa Yakaawu (Alaska) — $1.3 million to help eight households purchase homes.
  • Lakota Funds (South Dakota) — $1.3 million to help eight households purchase homes.
  • Lake Superior Community Development Corp. (Michigan) — $800,000 to help seven households purchase homes.
  • Nimiipuu Community Development Fund (Idaho) — $803,000 to help 13 households purchase homes.
  • San Carlos Apache Tribe Relending Program (Arizona) — $673,470 to help 25 households repair their homes.

For Nimiipuu Community Development Fund, the award adds mortgage lending capital to support home purchases and construction, alongside financial coaching.

“With direct mortgage lending capital now in-house, NCDF can meet our community members where they are—providing affordable home purchase and construction financing paired with the culturally grounded financial coaching and support our people rely on,” Jonelle Yearout, executive director, said in a statement.

The program provides capital to Native CDFIs, which then make home purchase and home repair loans available within their communities. USDA Rural Development administers the program, which offers participating Native CDFIs 33-year loans at 1% interest, with payments deferred for the first three years. 

Long-term lending capital can be difficult for Native CDFIs to obtain, limiting their ability to offer mortgages, according to an October 2025 analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis’ Center for Indian Country Development. The USDA program helps address that gap by providing long-term, low-cost financing that Native lenders use to originate and service mortgages in their communities.

USDA announced the funding obligation Oct. 1 after accepting applications from June 18 through Aug. 14.

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