From The Rez to Residential: A Guide for MN Ojibwe to Buying Our Land Back, One Property at a Time

One of the biggest barriers to homeownership is the daunting belief that you need 20% down to even look at buying a house. In today's market, a "cheap" house in the metro is $250,000 and 20% would mean you need $50K before you even start.  No thanks.  So I attended a brown bag info session with Dawn at American Pacific Mortgage  (important to note: they also have an office in Indian Country, based in Bemidji !). Dawn did a great presentation that focused on two $0 down government-backed options, and while I don't have her slides, I'll do my best to relay the highlights of each program. VA LOAN This one is limited to people who served in the military, as it's backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is the loan I got, first through my Iraq War Veteran husband, then on my own after I served 6 years in the Reserves.  It's important to note, this is not a benefit you get right out of basic training, like your education money. You have to complete som...

Not gonna lie, I'm feeling more overwhelmed by this goal than I thought, so using the end of 2022 to kick out my self-doubts and just push forward. It's idealistic to say I want to empower as many people, especially women with little to no privilege given to them in life so far, to own land. Property. A stable home. But my hesitations aren't in THEM but in myself. Who am I to say I can do for them what decades of their experience and dozens of agencies have yet to be able to.  But I firmly believe, and it's commonly known  in marketing and educational circles, that you need to hear something at least seven times and in seven different ways before you will bring an idea into action or firm understanding. So I'm going forward with the idea that maybe I can just be one of the seven to help add to the conversation. I also still carry too much of the "what will people think of me" ego. I'm fully aware of the "white savior complex" and "well-m...

Boozhoo! Hello! WHO AM I? I'm a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Northern Minnesota. I'm also a Realtor with Bridge Realty based in the Twin Cities, and I'm combining those aspects of myself, along with my military service, Masters's in Public Health, and life experience to help give back to the tribe that has given so much to me. I was raised in the Twin Cities, left briefly to join the Army, but came back and bought my home in Richfield in 2008. Leech Lake, along with the GI Bill, helped pay for my Bachelor's Degree from Metro State in 2010, and subsequently, my Master's in 2013.  My tribal enrollment also gave me a job at the Bureau of Indian Education where I learned so much about my Tribe and the other midwestern Tribes our office supported. The amazing people I worked with taught me more about my culture than I had learned in my first 25 years of life. I left the BIE after graduation and moved into prevention work for the Minnesota National Gua...