Home sweet home

WASILLA — They may just look like any other Valley duplex — but a pair of duplexes the Knik Tribe put up this year — with more planned next year, mean a lot to the people who will live there.

Stephanie Holcomb and family are among the first group of residents to move into the new units. Holcomb, her two children and her significant other move in this month.

At an open house event Thursday she said she was so excited she worried she might explode.

“It’s very exciting,” she said.

For her family it will mean one residence instead of two, and one set of bills for housing and utilities. Medical treatments had forced the family to live separately for the past few years, but the new three bedroom home means they’ll all be together under the same roof soon.

“It’s such a blessing,” Holcomb said. “We are so thrilled.”

An added blessing is the home’s location. She said her father lives just around the corner. He rode his four-wheeler over during the ceremony to say hello.

Holcomb isn’t the only one excited — all four units of afford able housing are booked and there is a lengthy waiting list.

The Knik Tribe is building the duplexes through a partnership with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and with Premier Builders of Wasilla. The federal government had the funding, the tribe had the idea and Premier Builders had the land.

On its own, Knik Tribe knows it can never build enough affordable housing to meet the local demand. But if it can show that this sort of partnership is a profitable way to build affordable housing, Michael Tucker, president of Knik Tribe said, maybe it will encourage other developers to follow suit and invest in affordable housing.

“We’re all about partnership in everything that we do,” Tucker said.

Applicants for the housing are based on need. Alaska Native people are given preference, as are disabled veterans.

To move into the units, people will be required to take financial literacy courses. Tucker said that the idea is to eventually move them into homes that they own themselves. Using an oft-employed phrase in the non-profit sector, he said the aim is to give people a hand up, rather than a handout.

And the homes are something residents can be proud of. They feature garage door openers, vinyl siding, central heat, a recessed living room ceiling, a deep tub, a dining room chandelier, and good quality materials such as those used in the cabinets, countertops and fixtures.

Tucker said the tribe wants people to be proud of where they live. And, soon there will be more people able to feel that pride — the tribe plans to continue construction next summer with two more duplexes scheduled to go up right next door. Eventually the tribe plans to build five duplexes on the property.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.