HUD officials C. Wayne Sims, Rodger Boyd and Jemine Bryon pose with Durant Boys & Girls Club member Jonah Pollard.
Promise Zone progress on display during HUD visit
By ZACH MAXWELL
Choctaw Nation
Durant, Okla. - The Choctaw Nation hosted dignitaries from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for a progress report tour of areas in one of President Barack Obama’s Promise Zones.
Jemine Bryon, Deputy Undersecretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for HUD, was joined by Rodger Boyd (Navajo Nation), Deputy Assistant Secretary for HUD Native Programs, and C. Wayne Sims, Administrator for HUD’s Southern Plains Office of Native American Programs.
They were shown several shovel-ready projects around Durant by members of Choctaw Nation Office of Tribal Policy, including Promise Zone Coordinator Sara-Jane Smallwood.
She took the group to the Durant Boys and Girls Club, currently occupying a portion of old Durant Middle School. Business partnerships and Promise Zone designation could help turn the tide for youths in “one of the poorest Census tracts in the Choctaw Nation,” Smallwood said.
The group also visited residents at Chahta Tvmaha elder housing, where units were built using HUD funding.
“It’s a life-saver for me,” said resident Van Lindsay. “It’s just me and my dog, so it is a comfortable place and I feel safe here.”