Clyde Didrickson and his wife, Charlotte, smile and hug each other in their new home Friday morning. The couple were able to get their new home through a Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority grant funding program aimed to help veterans. (Gregory Philson | Juneau Empire)

Clyde Didrickson and his wife, Charlotte, smile and hug each other in their new home Friday morning. The couple were able to get their new home through a Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority grant funding program aimed to help veterans. (Gregory Philson | Juneau Empire)

‘It is a blessing’: Grant offering housing for Alaska Native veterans

Program has helped 19 individuals or familes in the last year

Walking into their new home, Clyde Didrickson and his wife, Charlotte, could not wipe the smiles off their faces.

The couple has been searching for a home since Clyde came back from fighting in the Vietnam War in 1972. Clyde said he has done everything he could to survive during that time by hunting and fishing while living in the woods. The couple was able to move in Friday through Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority grant funding aimed to help veterans find housing.

“It is my home finally,” Clyde, 66, said in front of his new home Friday morning. “It is pretty hard living on the streets.”

THRHA received the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act funding three years ago, according to Director of Housing Services Norton Gregory. But it has only been able to utilize it after Robin Murdock, a Tribal Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing case worker, made the move from New York to Juneau last year. THRHA is one of 23 programs nationwide that was given this funding, Gregory said. Since then, the program has used 19 of its 20 vouchers for housing and they are actively searching for the last people to house. Once housed, the people meet with Brenner regularly to make sure they are able to take care of themselves.

“We try to meet up once a week until we get them through the housing process,” Murdock said. “Once they get settled in and if they don’t really need a whole lot of services, I will meet them once a month to try to link them into the VA services.”

Murdock said for those who can work, the VA will help veterans find jobs. Murdock said two people are currently working who are in the program. The housing is mostly paid through the grant and veterans will pay 30 percent of their income toward the housing. Murdock said through the outreach at Glory Hole Homeless Shelter she was able to get in contact with the Didricksons. She said the program can take anywhere from one day to three weeks to go from finding someone in need and placing them into a new home. The veterans go through a screening process and once cleared, the VA and THRHA look for housing. For people to be eligible for the permanent housing, they must be veterans that were honorably discharged and not currently or have ever been on the sex offender registry.

Murdock has traveled throughout Southeast Alaska since taking on the project. The program has helped people in Yakutat, Juneau, Petersburg, Saxman and Craig. Norton said he and Murdock walk around Juneau promoting the program and receiving tips from the public on who may need help.

“Often times people in the community know veterans who may need extra assistance,” Gregory said. “We found out that the most effective way to reach out to these folks was just to hit the ground.”

Gregory said THRHA has only one voucher left and he is hoping that another grant will allow this program to continue.

“If we could get more vouchers, we would certainly be able to use them,” Gregory said. “We are hoping to get 20 more and I think we would be able to utilize those vouchers.”

And if the Didricksons are an example of what the program can do, it will change 20 more families’ lives.

“It is a blessing,” Clyde said.


• Contact reporter Gregory Philson at gphilson@juneauempire.com or call at 523-2265. Follow him on Twitter at @GTPhilson.


More in News

A Kenai Peninsula Food Bank truck in the Food Bank parking lot on Aug. 4, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Food bank seeks turkey donations as Thanksgiving nears

The local food bank is calling for donations of $25 to “Adopt-A-Turkey” for a local family in need

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward budget hearing covers bed tax, wages, emergency medical services

The Seward City Council on Nov. 12 considered a series of legislative items connected to 2025 and 2026 budget

The results of ranked choice tabulation show Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, winning reelection in the race for Senate District D. (Screenshot/Gavel Alaska)
Bjorkman, Vance win reelection after tabulation of ranked choice ballots

An effort to repeal ranked choice voting and the open primary system was very narrowly defeated

Jacob Caldwell, chief executive officer of Kenai Aviation, stands at the Kenai Aviation desk at the Kenai Municipal Airport on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Aviation, Reeve Air submit proposals to bring air service back to Seward

Scheduled air service has been unavailable in Seward since 2002

Erosion damage to the southbound lane of Homer Spit Road is seen on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, following a storm event on Saturday in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
City, DOT work to repair storm damage to Spit road

A second storm event on Saturday affected nearly a mile of the southbound lane

Kenaitze Indian Tribe Education Director Kyle McFall speaks during a special meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Charter school proposed by Kenaitze Indian Tribe given approval by school board

The application will next be forwarded to the State Department of Education and Early Department

Suzanne Phillips, who formerly was a teacher at Aurora Borealis Charter School, speaks during a special meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Aurora Borealis charter renewal clears school board

The school is seeking routine renewal of its charter through the 2035-2036 school year

State House District 6 candidates Rep. Sarah Vance, Dawson Slaughter and Brent Johnson participate in a candidate forum hosted by the Peninsula Clarion and KBBI 890 AM at the Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Saturday update: House District 6 race tightens slightly in new results

Neither incumbent Rep. Sarah Vance or challenger Brent Johnson have claimed 50% of votes in the race

A grader moves down 1st Avenue in Kenai, Alaska, during a snow storm on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Storm system to bring weekend snow to western Kenai Peninsula

Extended periods of light to moderate snow are expected Friday through Sunday morning

Most Read