FHLBank Topeka member Security State Bank of Oklahoma and the Housing Authority of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma (HASNOK) noticed an alarming trend last year – 20% of the youth in the community were experiencing homelessness. Both organizations wanted to find a way to address this problem.
Right after the two organizations met with other Wewoka community leaders, Tipton Burch, CEO of Security State Bank, received a well-timed email from FHLBank Topeka. To help address housing issues across the district, FHLBank was launching a new program – the Native American Housing Initiatives (NAHI) Grants Program. NAHI provides grants through FHLBank members, like Security State Bank, to work with Native American tribes or tribally housing entities to improve housing on a grassroots level.
Security State Bank had received a $1 million Affordable Housing Program grant in late 2022 to rehabilitate 60 aging homes in the community. “I almost ignored the email about NAHI since I didn’t think we’d be awarded a grant through another program so quickly,” said Burch. Burch changed his mind however when he reflected on a story the HASNOK executive director had shared with him about a local teenager with a single mother who passed away leaving him orphaned. “As I slept in my warm bed, I thought about that young man and where he was sleeping that night. That’s when I realized we needed to give an application a try,” shared Burch.
Security State Bank and HASNOK applied for a NAHI grant to construct a youth homeless shelter. They received $500,000 in the inaugural 2023 round. Representatives from the project visited FHLBank Topeka in November to share their plans for the grant with a packed room of FHLBank employees.
Less than a year later, Security State Bank, FHLBank Topeka, representatives from the Seminole Nation, city and state officials and others in the community came together to break ground on two new residential homes to serve Wewoka youth affected by homelessness. The homes will be located across the street from Wewoka High School. Construction is set to get underway immediately with completion expected by the end of the year.
