Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed in a national announcement last Friday that $100,000 has been awarded to the Development Bank of American Samoa through the USDA Rural Housing Preservation Grant program benefiting low income residents of Aunu’u.

The official announcement — which also covers projects in 47 states under USDA’s Rural Development program — comes at a time when DBAS has already scheduled two workshops — on Jan 6 and 7, 2023 on Aunu’u — giving residents the opportunity to become acquainted with the DBAS Housing Rehabilitation Assistance Program.

In a statement last week, DBAS said that it has been awarded the funding by USDA to assist low-and-moderate income homeowners with repairs or rehabilitation.

A USDA Rural Development grant project description information sheet made public last Friday, by USDA, shows that the $100,000 will be used to help DBAS to continue the operation of DBAS's homeowner housing rehabilitation program.

“DBAS aims to assist four low- and eight very low-income homeowners in Aunu'u, a rural area in the Eastern District of American Samoa,” the description states. “This project will assist low- and very-low-income homeowners with the ability to rehabilitate and repair their homes and to have safe and healthy living conditions.”

According to USDA, these projects may include improvements to accommodate family members with special needs, such as the elderly, children, and the disabled, as well as reconfiguring rooms to alleviate overcrowding.

Furthermore, DBAS will work with selected contractors to evaluate projects, determine costs, and execute rehabilitation and repair work.

Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata welcomed the funding through the USDA in the Housing Preservation Grant for DBAS, as her office was also informed by the federal agency.

“I’m happy to congratulate the 12 households in Aunu’u, who will be part of this well-deserved improvement initiative, and thank you especially to DBAS President Ruth Matagi Faatili and the team at the bank for the good work that went into this heartwarming project,” Uifa’atali said in a news release later on Friday.

She congratulated the Lemanu-Talauega Administration and thanked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Rural Development Under Secretary Xochitl Torres-Small, who made the national announcement from Washington D.C. on the projects to the 47 states and American Samoa.

As previously reported by Samoa News, DBAS on June 24 this year, launched a public comment portal seeking comments saying that the information provided will be used to help DBAS prioritize and plan assistance for home repair or rehabilitation to low- or moderate-income homeowners in Aunu’u.

DBAS estimates to use the grant funds to assist eight very-low-income households and four low-income households. And all the 12 homeowners are minorities. 

Grant funding totals $100,000 and DBAS has budgeted $88,000 for construction project costs and the balance for administration fees.

DBAS also says that it will conduct workshops on the application process for the funding.  At the workshop, attendees will be required to complete the mandatory sign-in, which is the basis for issuing a lottery ticket. In addition, the workshop presenters from DBAS will discuss the submission of required documents for review — such as the separation agreement and photo identification — to determine the eligibility to join the lottery. (See Samoa News edition July 1 for details).