Members of the Lumbee Tribe gathered at the Lumbee Boys and Girls Club in Pembroke on Thursday, July 6 for the annual State of the Tribe address to review the economic and community development in the past year.
Following a number of ceremonies including a welcome, prayer, presentation of the Eagle Staff and giving special recognition to community and Tribe member Diane Goins by presenting her with an Eagle Feather and an Honor Prayer, Tribe Chairman John L. Lowery addressed the community on progress made in the 18 months he has been in office.
“I was sworn in as Chairman exactly 18 months ago tonight, marking the official halfway mark of my first term. When I took office, I focused on continuous improvement, recognizing that the Lumbee people expect a lot from his tribal government. I have been committed to ensuring that this government gives its best to our people, because we have been focused on proving and strengthening what we do. We're now in a season of tremendous growth and progress and this administration is committed to supporting and continuing the growth we've seen the last 18 months,” shared Lowery.
The assembly was also provided with a full breakdown of the Tribes recently approved $38 million budget, a $6 million dollar increase from the $33.3 million budget approved last year.
“This Tribal staff is amazing. Last year, this staff managed a budget of over $32 million including unrestricted Tribal funds, federal state funds and grants for private entities. We just completed our annual independent audit of the past year. This the first audit that was all during my time as Chairman, and once again, I'm happy to report to you guys there were no findings in our annual audit,” shared Lowery. “The Tribal budget I am presenting tonight reflects that tremendous growth, their progress and provides the future of our people with ongoing projects and grants.”
According to information handed out at the event, the budget is broken into nine primary categories with a majority of funding going towards housing.
The Budget breakdown is as follows:
With a majority of the budget going to housing, Lowery spoke on a major achievement of the housing department.
“Our housing program has long been the heart of our tribal government and that heart continues to grow. We have reorganized our housing rehab department to assure the quality work is being performed on behalf of our members. We have made progress on our rehab waiting lists and I'm proud to tell you tonight that we no longer have anyone on our list from the year 2021 Or earlier,” said Lowery.
Lowery continued by breaking down the rest of the budget assignments by department.
The full address was live streamed via youtube and the full State of the Tribe Address can be found online here.
Further breakdown of the address will continue in future stories.
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