Lumbee residents: Housing needs to improve
Some Lumbee Indians in the state say their homes are in pitiful shape and are questioning how tribal leaders spend their housing money.
Posted — Updated“They can’t spend that much money, but they can spend money to go to Hawaii and Alaska,” Maynor said referring to a trip Lumbee officials took last year to attend an Indian education convention.
The tribe has a budget of $10,000 for emergency repair work and $20,000 for rehabilitation work per home, Lumbee Housing Director Bosco Locklear.
Maynor said the home is about 100 years old. She said an inspector told her the house is beyond repair and should be condemned. So, she asked for a new home, but was told that would exceed the $20,000 the tribe can spend.
“I feel like a castaway the way they (tribal officials) feel about it,” she said.
“We’ll be glad to sit down with any of our tribal members that feel they’re being mistreated,” Locklear said.
Tribal officials said Thursday they offered Maynor a double-wide trailer, but she turned it down.
Randy Lewis, a tribal member who’s organized protests about the housing program, said the trailer offered to Maynor was mold infested.
“And he said I should not have to come to Washington to talk about a home. It should have already been done down here.”
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