TIWAHE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES GRANT
RECIPIENTS
The Tiwahe Foundation is honored to
announce that at its June 10 board meeting, 15 grants were awarded to
Native American individuals in the Twin Cities seven county metro
area through its American Indian Family Empowerment Program Fund.
This program awards $70,000-$80,000 annually to American Indian
individuals and families seeking financial resources to achieve their
goals, shape their future and make positive contributions to their
community through three priority areas: Economic Self-sufficiency;
Education and Cultural Connections.
Grants range from $500 to $2,500,
enough to make a significant impact on grantees and the community and
contributing to the self-determination of individuals. Individuals
received awards in the following focus areas:
Goal 1: Preserving and Renewing Native
Cultural Connections (Learning Native languages, developing kinship
ties, traditional and cultural practices). The grantees include:
Nancy Cain-Kouri, Melissa Davis and Cleone Thompson.
Goal 2: Educational Achievement
(Expenses related to college degrees, certificates, vocational
training, GED, and college entrance exams). Grantees for this goal
were: Travis Earth-Werner, Savanna Elmquist, John Fairbanks, Miigis
Gonzalez, Kevin Head, Mia Mikel, Cynthia Pawlitschek, James Smith,
Shantelle Stately, Kelly Suzick and Aaron Thomson.
Linda Lucero was the grantee for Goal
3, which includes economic self-sufficiency through employment,
business, entrepreneurial opportunities and expenses related to
home-ownership.
AIFEP strives to reverse the social,
educational, and economic challenges facing American Indians by
investing in human capital, skills, resources and cultural strengths
that people possess that allow them to live healthy and productive
lives, build strong relationships, and make meaningful contributions
to their communities. To learn more, visit www.tiwahefoundation.org.
LAC DU FLAMBEAU ARTS CENTER RECEIVES
$88,000 AWARD
LAC DU FLAMBEAU, Wis. – Lac du Flambeau’s new Living Arts and
Culture Center received a major boost when the USDA announced that
the project will receive $88,000 in funds to promote economic growth,
support rural business development and create jobs.
The center
was one of 48 projects selected for the award, which provides
training and technical assistance to program managers for artistic
program planning and development. Project planners will use the funds
for a unique "train-the-trainers" initiative. Patricia
O’Neil, Executive Director of Northwoods Niijii Enterprise Community,
said the money will be used to conduct eight planning workshops to
build capacity for artistic programming, business planning and other
needed training. An estimated 100 individuals are expected to
participate.
"This funding provides the community with a
unique opportunity to build the capacity needed to create an artistic
center of excellence, that both preserves an endangered culture and
provides a regional tourism draw," O’Neil said. "Nothing
like this has been developed in this Tribal community in the past, so
operational staff and the new Board of Directors for the Tribal
corporation will be seeking training."
"We see this as
another endorsement of the community’s vision for the future,"
said Georgine Brown, President of the WaasWaaGaning Indian Bowl Board
of Directors. "This is going to build momentum for the project,"
she added.
In his June 12 announcement, Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack stated that the grants "will bring increased economic
opportunities to rural residents and communities by strengthening the
capacity of regional organizations to help small and emerging
businesses." He added, "They also will help organizations
experienced in economic development create more job opportunities for
rural residents across the country."
"On behalf of the
Indian Bowl Board of Directors, we are happy to participate in this
opportunity to rebuild the Indian Bowl," Brown stated. "We
think it can enhance not only our local community but also the
surrounding areas and enable us all to draw more visitors to the
Northwoods."
The Lac du Flambeau Living Arts and Culture
Center will be attached to and expand the George W. Brown Ojibwe
Museum. The ambitious $3.1 million project includes space for
performing arts, theater and dance, artist business incubation, and
education and preservation of endangered arts and practices. More
than $778,000 has been raised to date.
WELLNESS COURT HOLDS GRADUATION
WALKER, Minn. – Cass County/Leech Lake Band
of Ojibwe Wellness Court held a graduation ceremony on June 12.
The graduation celebrated the
successful completion of the program by two of its participants, Troy
Forrest and Allen Dahlberg.
Wellness Court is a joint
jurisdictional DWI court program designed to increase public safety
and reduce long-term costs to the criminal justice system and the
community through intense supervision utilizing a multi-disciplinary
team effort and is jointly funded by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Association, Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety, Cass County
and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, according to Shirley Smith,
Wellness Court coordinator.
The goal of Wellness Court is to break
the cycle of addiction and reduce repeat DWI offenses with treatment
and rehabilitation of participants through a process of
accountability, frequent drug testing, education, substance abuse
treatment, sanctions, and incentives designed to promote long-term
sobriety, accountability, and productive lifestyles, she explained.
The program is overseen by Leech Lake
Tribal Court Judge Megan Treuer and Judge Jana Austad from Cass
County District Court. There have been 38 graduates from the program
since it began in June 2006.
