General Meeting Held for Akwesasne Housing Authority's Various Projects

For the past couple of years, the Akwesasne Housing Authority have been working with several programs to help families and future home owners such as the Sunrise Acres, The Go Solar! Initiative. AHA reviewed and presented each project of their project's phase and what the progress has been made.

The Elders and Veterans Housing Sunrise Acres is entering its 3rd phase of construction. So far, the plans for the building include Senior and Veterans' buildings. The veteran's building will include four one-bedroom apartments and two-bedroom units for families and veterans. While the senior apartments will include twelve apartments for eligible seniors. The new building hopes to include heating and cooling, a personal gym for all residents, community spaces and offices for agencies that will provide supportive services for those residents that have special needs. So far, the plans are on their way to being built and laying the foundation for the buildings.

An update on the Go Solar Initiative was given as well, showing that twenty-four acres has been purchased for the program and construction will begin very soon. The Akwesasne Housing Authority has been working on getting the Go Solar! Initiative for a few years now and now the Solar farm, which promises to help low income families with an affordable alternative. This program is set to start construction sometime this year behind the former IGA building.

Along with this, the High Efficiency Initiative gave their presentation. The High Efficiency Initiative is under the High Energy Efficiency Initiative Program (HEEIP) in association the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to help the residents of Akwesasne to have clean, affordable, and efficient energy. Currently there are 97 residents that benefit from the program already and has created 2 new jobs at the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

The Eco Village, while it has received some criticism, was presented to promote what Eco Villages will do and how it could benefit Akwesasne. The Eco Village will offer energy efficient housing for low-income families. They propose that the houses will be built to reduce the carbon footprint through clean indoor air, solar power and air filtration. All this, while giving affordable housing to those families who need it most. While the project has reached the final stages, there are funding and site issues that they need to concentrate on. The Eco Village promises to address the lack of housing in Akwesasne and be a step into the future.

Each project will begin production sometime this year or begin submitting for grants and funding, while the HEEIP program has been in progress.