"Developers have won a federal grant for a Native American elders housing project in Minneapolis, a development American Indian planners say will provide much-needed housing.

As many as a half of the state's more than 86,000 American Indians live off the reservation. Thousands live in the Twin Cities and consider it home.

People who work with older American Indians who are poor are worried about the meager supply of housing for them in the Twin Cities. The developers say the $8 million project will help, but it will meet only a fraction of the overall need for housing.

The need for American Indian elder housing far outpaces supply in the Twin Cities, said Mike Goze, CEO of the American Indian Community Development Corporation.

"When we did our market study, there was need for 630 housing units and so with 47 we just touch the tip of the iceberg," he said.

The housing project will be built on Bloomington Avenue in south Minneapolis near Franklin Avenue.

Construction is expected to begin next spring. When finished, the development will contain one bedroom apartments for elders 62 years and older who are poor. Their monthly rents will be subsidized so they spend no more than 30 percent of their income on rent."

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Grant provides housing for Native American elders (Minnesota Public Radio 9/3)