The state of California has allocated nearly $10 million to relocate residents from a mobile home park on the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Reservation.

The money will be used to buy as many as 140 mobile homes for the residents of the Desert Mobile Home Park, also known as Duroville. The residents will be moved to Mountain View Estates, a new community off the reservation.

“The fact they're moving from 50-year-old dilapidated, distressed and failing mobile homes to a decent and modern mobile home means a lot for these families, their children and their future,” Tom Flynn, who served as a receiver for Duroville as part of a lawsuit in federal court, told The Riverside Press-Enterprise.

A large number of the residents are Purepecha Indians from Mexico and Central America. At one point, they formed their own "tribal council" to address issues at the facility.

Duroville sits on 40-acre allotment owned by Harvey Duro, a member of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Tribe. The Bureau of Indian Affairs sued him to make improvements at the site, which doesn't fall under local jurisdiction.

Duro lives on the allotment, the Press-Enterprise reported.

Get the Story:
State OKs nearly $10M to replace Duroville (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 10/16)
David Olson: Duroville residents eager to leave “pigsty” behind (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 10/16)
$10 million for Duroville relocation released by state (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 10/16)

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Conditions reportedly improve at reservation mobile home park (11/30)