On April 21, a couple of us were able to participate on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) call that highlighted the opportunity of Preferred Sustainability Status (PSS).
What PSS essentially provides is a way to get extra points in the scoring for grant applications. It currently applies only to HUD grants, but the goal is to have it apply across many federal agencies. Across the U.S., only 87 communities currently have this status, and 29 additional communities will have the opportunity to gain PSS.
It is expected that the status will come from the regional HUD administrator. More details and an FAQ to come, but what we’ve heard thus far is promising — sharing best practices, techniques for plan implementation, peer-to-peer networking, etc. We see this as an opportunity for building capacity on a variety of fronts. It is our hope that this status for the Tribe will help ensure there are resources available for all the initiatives and projects that emerge out of next week’s Visioning Process and the planning that follows.
It will certainly take continued effort and determination to see the Vision and Plan through on a variety of levels. We think this opportunity can help us move forward in a good way.
