By
Benny Polacca
The Osage Nation Financial Assistance Department is receiving an additional $50,000 to continue offering crisis assistance to enrolled Osages following a spike in applications following the historic February winter storms impacting Texas and Oklahoma.
During the 2021 Hun-Kah Session, the Seventh ON Congress unanimously approved bill ONCA 21-36 (sponsored by Congresswoman Alice Goodfox) to provide the $50,000 supplemental appropriation to the department coming from tribal funding.
According to the Nation’s website, the Financial Assistance Department assists enrolled Osages “regardless of residency, struggling in extraordinary times of a crisis. Crisis Assistance is available once per fiscal year to applicants that are able to document an emergency/crisis warranting assistance. Situations should be short-term or temporary in nature, and not chronic. Assistance may be provided only when an eligible crisis creates a verifiable need and cannot exceed $1,000, per applicant, per fiscal year. Assistance is available under the following four crisis situations: Homeless, or a threat of homelessness; Unsafe and/or unsanitary living conditions; Fire or natural disaster; or Major car repairs.”
The bill received initial consideration in the Congressional Health and Social Services Committee before the final vote on April 9.
Goodfox said she sponsored the legislation after visiting with the Executive Branch, adding “I knew from the constituents I had spoken with in Oklahoma and Texas that a lot of people were going to reach out to crisis assistance to get help with the sub-zero temperatures we had. We had an enormous amount of people who had damage to their home from their pipes bursting from the cold … And we haven’t even gone through tornado season, we all know that is usually something people will have to reach out for crisis assistance funds.”
Jennifer Oberly, Financial Assistance Department director, told the committee that approximately $32,000 remained available for crisis assistance applicants with six applications still being processed at the time meaning “it could be another minus-$6,000 from that number. That’s roughly 26% left of our budget and we have six months left in the fiscal year.” The 2021 fiscal year ends September 30.
For the increased number of crisis assistance applications, Oberly said her department has received applications due to unsafe/ unsanitary homes due to broken water pipes and no water supply and people in Texas were without electricity for 1-2 weeks.
Oberly also noted: “This year and last year was a little unprecedented due to COVID, our (application) numbers have definitely gone up not only due to the weather but everybody’s economic impact and their current situations. Last year, we did a total of 200 applications, right now we are at 110, so if we think we will get as many as we did last year, then we will expect quite a bit. We also temporarily paused this program while we did CARES (direct assistance offered in 2020) to a lot of people, as well as referring to the housing programs for anyone that’s in danger of being homeless or evicted … It’s unable to be predicted like the floods we had two years ago that came through in May and we received a bunch of (applications at that time).”
Congress voted 12-0 approving ONCA 21-36, and Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear signed the bill to become law.
For more information on ON Financial Assistance services, visit its website at: www.osagenation-nsn.gov/what-we-do/financial-assistance
Original Publish Date: 2021-05-18 00:00:00