The capital of the Navajo Nation is located in Window Rock, Arizona, named for its famed natural feature. Photo: Ben FrantzDale

The Navajo Nation 

Office of the President and Vice President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 13, 2021

Approximately 7,500 Hardship Assistance checks remain unclaimed

WINDOW ROCK, Arizona – The Navajo Nation Office of the Controller recently issued a report indicating that approximately 7,500 checks remained unclaimed by enrolled Navajo Nation members who applied for the CARES Act Hardship Assistance. The current deadline to use all CARES Act funds is Dec. 31, 2021.

Enrolled Navajo Nation members who applied for Hardship Assistance and have not received a check, or if you received a check and did not deposit or cash it before it expired, please contact the Office of the Controller by sending an e-mail message to rthompson@hardship.nnooc.org or wjames@hardship.nnooc.org or by calling (928) 871-6955, (928) 871-6271, (928) 871-6073 no later than 5:00 p.m. (MST) on Thursday, December 23, 2021.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer signed Resolution CJN-35-21 into law in July, approving the final phase of the CARES Act Hardship Program to allow remaining applicants to receive the direct relief funding, and to reopen the application process for enrolled members who did not apply for the relief funds last year. Of the $714 million that the Navajo Nation received through the CARES Act in 2020, over $361 million was approved and made available for Hardship Assistance for direct relief to the Navajo people. As of December 7, 2021, approximately 312,000 enrolled members, adults and minors, received assistance. 

“We strongly urge our people who applied, but have not received a relief check, to contact the Office of the Controller by December 23^rd. Unclaimed checks may be due to a change or error with a mailing address, an incomplete application, or other issues. In accordance with federal requirements, all CARES Act dollars must be spent or obligated by the end of the calendar year,” said President Nez.

Vice President Lizer also encouraged applicants to reach out to the Office of the Controller as soon as possible to determine the status of their application for Hardship Assistance stating, “The Navajo Nation Council and Office of the President and Vice President allocated these funds to help our people. If you are expecting assistance based off of your submitted application, please make every effort to contact the Office of the Controller.”

On November 24, Legislation No. 0257-21 was introduced, which seeks approval for another round of hardship assistance and infrastructure development and improvements through the American Rescue Plan Act. The legislation is available online: http://dibb.nnols.org/publicreporting.aspx. Public comments may be submitted by e-mail to comments@navajo-nsn.gov.