• (12/21/07)Tribal District 3 Community Center Opens
• (12/18/07)Lumbee vocational center opens
• (12/18/07)Banquet held for Tribal Elders

Tribal District 3 Community Center Opens

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is proud to announce the opening of the first community center built for tribal members.  Tribal District 3 opened Soaring Eagle Community Center in the Clyburn Pines community on Friday, December 14, 2007.

“First I would like to thank the tribal housing staff,” said Tribal Chairman Jimmy Goins, “the Tribal Council, especially Mrs. Laura Sampson and Mrs. Pam Spaulding for their leadership, as well as other local leaders who helped in this endeavor. 

“Thanks to them, this community has a fine building to use. This is proof, that we are changing our focus from just building homes to building communities,” said Chairman Goins.

The Lumbee Tribe, under the Goins Administration, has shifted the focus of the housing program from simply rehabilitation or repairs to existing homes and the construction of new homes, to building, preserving and strengthening Lumbee communities. 

The new community building will serve as a gathering place for elders and youth.  The Lumberton Heritage Elder Group will relocate from Branch Street Church to the new community center.  The Youth & Cultural Enrichment Department of the Lumbee Tribe will also host cultural classes at the new facility. 

“I am so excited about this,” said Tribal Council member for Tribal District 3, Mrs. Pam Spaulding.  “Many hours and many nights of work with the community committee and with tribal staff went into making this project a success and to bring about this fabulous building for our elders and youth.”

The Lumbee Tribe is committed to building two community centers in the Indian Housing Plan submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The newly opened community center in Clyburn Pines is the first, with construction underway on the second building in Tribal District 14, or the East Howellsville, Wisharts and Britts communities.

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina uses funding from the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) through HUD to implement programs that include affordable and safe housing to Lumbee families residing in the tribal territory of Cumberland, Hoke, Robeson and Scotland counties, while nurturing, promoting and securing our communities and way of life for all time.