Mission & Values

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Cook Inlet Housing Authority (CIHA) was founded in 1974 by the Alaska Legislature to insure elders, individuals and families in the 36,000-square-mile area of Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) would have access to quality, affordable housing.

Our Mission
CIHA’s mission is to create housing opportunities that empower our people and build our community. The Authority’s housing programs are designed to empower clients and to encourage their transition toward self-sufficiency through homeownership or affordable rental housing.

The authority employs more than 80 people who work as a team to offer four primary housing programs and operate more than 500 units of rental housing located in Anchorage, Kenai, Seldovia and Ninilchik. We’re a dynamic group always working to improve our products and services as well as develop new and better ways to address not just housing needs in Anchorage, but the housing needs of all Alaskans.

Our Clients
CIHA serves a culturally diverse population living at or below 80 percent of the area median income. More than 30 percent of the entire population of Anchorage is currently living at or below 80 percent of the median income, and more than 50 percent of the area’s Native population falls under these same guidelines making them eligible for many of CIHA’s programs.

Our Relationship with CIRI
CIHA is one of five affiliated non-profit organizations of Cook Inlet Region Incorporated (CIRI), an Alaska Native Corporation with a mission of fostering the economic, social and cultural well-being of its shareholders and their descendants. CIHA is the tribally designated housing entity (TDHE) for CIRI.

Program Funding
CIHA receives much of its funding through the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA), which is national legislation designed to meet the critical housing needs of Alaska Natives and American Indians. Nearly eighty percent of CIHA clients are Alaska Native/American Indian and are served by programs primarily funded by NAHASDA.

Additional diversified funding sources - used especially in the development of our rental properties - allow CIHA to provide homes for a culturally diverse client base. Forty-seven percent of the clients living in CIHA's rental properties are Alaska Native/American Indian, 37% are Causcasian, 7 % are African American, 5 % are Asian and 3% are Hispanic. CIHA is committed to creating neighborhoods and communities that foster and celebrate cultural diversity.

Our Core Values
A number of key values held not just by the organization as a whole, but by individual employees as well, help keep us focused on our mission.

  • Excellence
  • Integrity
  • Innovation
  • Diversity
  • Leadership
  • Stability

For Cook Inlet Housing Authority, there's much more to providing affordable housing than simply constructing buildings and operating programs: we're committed providing high quality, attractive affordable housing opportunities that our clients can be proud of.

What We Do
Cook Inlet housing Authority's primary goal is to promote "Independence Through Housing" for our clients. This means it's our hope that quality housing will give our clients a solid foundation on which to further build the overall quality of their lives. We do this through rental, homeownership and home improvement opportunities as well as neighborhood revitilization activities and community partnerships.

Other Housing Needs
In addition to providing direct service to clients, CIHA partners with a number of other community organizations to insure a full continuum of housing services are available to address client needs. CIHA provides assistance to the homeless or nearly homeless and those in need of transitional housing by partnering with Brother Francis Shelter, McKinnell House, The Ernie Turner Center and Homeward Bound, Dena A’Coy, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, The Municipality of Anchorage and Anchorage Neighborhood Housing Services. CIHA also supports a number of local youth programs.

Our Future Plans
CIHA is working on a number of new initiatives aimed at filling holes in the continuum of housing services available to our clients in the South-central region. New initiatives include: senior housing in Anchorage and the MatSu Valley, family housing developments at Creekside Towncenter and Airport Heights and "social enterprise" activities which we hope will result in additional funds to support our affordable housing mission.

Social enterprise activities include: the development of Cook Inlet Lending Center, a non-profit affiliate that manages all loan activities for CIHA clients; and the development of Cook Inlet Real Estate Services, a for-profit affiliate developed in partnership with Re/Max Properties Inc. Cook Inlet Real Estate Services provides property management, residential sales and buyer services and commercial sales and leasing services.