WASHINGTON – Native American housing projects throughout Maine will receive $2,519,749 in federal block grants, U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced in a joint statement Monday. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the grants to three Maine tribes.

The Penobscot Tribe of Indian Island received $1,150,377. The Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation Housing Authority in Perry received $762,610. The Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians in Presque Isle received $606,762.

The grants will assist in rehabilitation, housing management, crime prevention and safety improvement. The federal grants are authorized under the Native American Housing and Self Determination Act of 1996.