FARGO — The Mayor of Fargo is exploring partnerships with tribal nations to help fund housing for Indigenous Fargo residents experiencing homelessness.
Mayor Tim Mahoney attended Fargo’s Native American Commission meeting on Thursday, May 2, to ask members for their help addressing the disproportionately high number of Indigenous people who are experiencing homelessness in Fargo.
C.S. Hagen / The Forum
“In our homeless population, 31% to 35% of those people are Native American,” Mahoney said. Fargo’s Indigenous population as a whole is 1.1%, according to the U.S. Census.
On Thursday, Mahoney asked members of the Native American Commission to talk to tribal communities around the region on behalf of Fargo.
“You may be able to get better participation (from the tribal nations) than if I run out and try to get that participation,” Mahoney said.
He said he hopes tribal nations will help Fargo find housing for people who are Indigenous and experiencing homelessness.
Mahoney said he isn’t sure what those partnerships might look like, but he suggested it could include “financial aid (to Fargo) that would come from the different tribes,” personnel or other, unspecified support.
He asked members of the Native American Commission if they wanted to get involved in the effort.
“Your commission would probably be more powerful than me asking,” Mahoney said. “My perception is that perhaps the leaders would say that we’re getting this (request) from an urban area.”
C.S. Hagen/The Forum
All the members of Fargo’s Native American Commission are affiliated with different tribal nations, according to the
For the city of Fargo to embrace the Housing First model to end homelessness, they need funding, Mahoney said.
“If we can get people into housing, that solves many of the problems that we have,” Mahoney said.
James Mathy, author of a Milwaukee-area plan that reduced homelessness by 45% in the last nine years,
told metro leaders in February that a Housing First plan was the best solution
to end repeated, long-term homelessness in Fargo.
On Thursday, Mahoney mentioned the
in Minnesota and the
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation
in North Dakota as possible partners for Fargo in their quest to house people experiencing homelessness.
This comes as the
nonprofit-run Dorthy Day shelter in Moorhead temporarily closes for lack of funding
and as shelters and food banks across the metro report being overwhelmed by the need in the community for several years.
On any given night, there are over 1,000 people in the metro who are experiencing homelessness, according to a
2023 report from the F-M Coalition to End Homelessness.
‘Could be very beneficial’
It’s important that Fargo explores how the city can best engage tribal partnerships, Native American Commission member Ashley Littlewolf said.
“Building those tribal partnerships could be very beneficial,” she said. “I’d be happy to be involved with some of that work.”
Littlewolf agreed the request would be best received by tribal nations if it came from the Native American Commission or other Indigenous-led organizations in Fargo.
While she was receptive to Mahoney’s push to house people, Littlewolf was skeptical of how Fargo’s request for financial assistance from the tribes would play out.
No action was taken on the matter during Thursday’s meeting.
The
Native American Commission is planning to meet next on Sept. 5.
Local government reporter working the night shift 👻. I cover Fargo city government, Cass County government and undercovered populations in the area.