MCK Announces Positive Housing Unit Update
Written by Jeremy Zafran on 21 April 2023
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) today, offered some important changes and updates regarding housing for the community. Following recommendations from two separate consultant reports including that report on housing by Brant & Associates and based on the Osborne Group’s Restructuring Study, coupled with years aligning operations for the MCK Housing Unit, operations are now moving forward with new direction. Ohén:ton Í:iente ne Ratsénhaienhs Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer saying it’s a great day and moving forward is the only way:
“It was very important to do something like this in terms of transparency, letting the community know where things are, letting everybody know the amount of work, time and energy that has gone into reconciling accounts and growing from the incident, the thing that happened that I know still a lot of people are upset about, but none-the-less, we have to move forward, we learn from our mistakes, we evolve, we grow. I think that what was announced today in terms of what’s upcoming that it’s exciting to hear that we the numbers now, we have the analysis for the community and that we’re going to work diligently to ensure that we are meeting the needs.”
Allan John Rice is the Housing Unit’s Executive Operations Officer, saying that from some housing bad news, came some good:
“The housing studies which are commissioned by the Council of Chiefs, these studies validated much of what we knew about housing issues that were going on across Indian country and all of Canada and providing housing services that our community deserves would be a daunting task, if something we’ve learned from this. We already knew that we had a lot to do but this study has really validated just how much of that we have to do and how we’re looking at this as a long-term plan and the game-plan to be able to meet the housing needs that our community deserves.”
New home construction under the MCK Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) will resume with an improved client experience. Areti Malliarou’s financial expertise has been at the table for 2 years in the role as Director of the Housing Unit:
“We are introducing 2 new roles in the unit, a Client-Experience Manager and a Program Manager. The selected candidates will start next week. We have also created a new role of Housing Programs and Project Management Coordinator and an internal staff member has been promoted, recognized to that role and all of us are working hard to accomplish the best for the community.”
Housing Portfolio Lead, Ratsénhaienhs Ryan Montour stating that the MCK is elated that the newly remodeled Housing Unit that is now equipped and staffed to better service the housing needs of Kahnawa’kehró:non and with that funding secured, the completion of Project 7 can resume with the construction of three (3) new residential homes, for the immediate needs of the community:
“Internal construction freeze, it has been lifted, we are at a point now with an operation within the Housing Unit specific that, yes, we can build houses for community members.”
The Housing Unit has also undergone a restructuring of its employees and processes. Montour saying a new positive direction requires a more positive name to reflect the changes:
“We will not use ‘Social Housing’ anymore, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke is in the business of providing ‘hand-up’, helping our community members, we will be referring to it as ‘Community Housing’ from now all in all aspects.”
On more than one occasion the MCK analyzed 282 mortgage and home renovation files through a detailed, independent third-party forensic audit. As part of the process, the loan management and control mechanisms were examined and improved for greater financial oversight.
