A new partnership with BC Housing has local band leaders feeling optimistic about the future of housing on reserves in the Nicola Valley.

The Indigenous Asset Management Memorandum of Understanding is a three-year agreement targeted at improving the quality of on-reserve housing in the region.

Months in the making, the agreement was signed by representatives from each of the five local bands and BC Housing’s CEO Shayne Ramsay at the Lower Nicola Indian Band (LNIB) office on Jan. 15.

“This new relationship will mean real training opportunities for community members and will help us move forward on the path of self-sufficiency relating to housing,” said Aaron Sumexheltza, LNIB’s chief.

Under the new partnership, representatives from BC Housing committed to providing training and education for the local bands to help them make on-reserve housing better in the long run.

Meanwhile, the five bands have agreed to work together to secure third-party capital funding for on-reserve housing renewal and to support culturally appropriate economic, social and environmentally sustainable housing.

The agreement should provide opportunities to work through housing struggles members have experienced on Upper Nicola Band (UNB) reserves, councillor Brian Holmes told the Herald.

“To me it opens up opportunities, other expertise that can help us build on what we have been able to access, he said. “It would be nice to have new homes, or even just be able to own your home, which can be a challenge on reserve land.”