Audio Clip Many Navajo Veterans Live In Overcrowded Conditions

About 9,000 veterans live on the Navajo Nation. And many live in poor and overcrowded conditions, often without running water or electricity.

On the rural Navajo Nation, few are left out in the cold, but many people live on top of each other with two to three families in a trailer or small house. A 2011 study commissioned by the Navajo Housing Authority showed about half of the tribe lives in overcrowded conditions.

The Navajo Veteran Affairs has set aside funds to build 300 homes over the next three years. But the need is bigger and many veterans don’t have the necessary home site leases to build.

The federal government announced last month it will provide $4 million in housing vouchers for 30 tribes including the Navajo, Hopi, San Carlos and Tohono O’odham nations. That’s enough for 600 Native American veterans to have homes.