Cherokee Nation Initiates Public Health and Wellness Partners Program
TAHLEQUAH — The Cherokee Nation is excited to announce the launch of its Public Health and Wellness Partners grant program, which will provide grants starting March 3 for eligible capital and operational projects aimed at enhancing public health across the Cherokee Nation Reservation.
Recently endorsed on February 27 by Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner, this initiative seeks to support local non-profits, schools, and government entities in their endeavors to improve health initiatives within their respective communities. Projects can include everything from creating new wellness programs to enhancing access to recreational facilities.
Chief Hoskin commented, ”Organizations, schools, and local governments across the region are uniquely positioned to help us improve wellness in our Cherokee communities. The Public Health and Wellness Partners grant program can help turn ideas for new wellness programs and infrastructure investment into reality in a way that benefits all of us.”
In 2021, significant legislative efforts were made with the enactment of the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act, which allocates part of the tribe’s third-party health revenue to support behavioral health and wellness programs. The fund has already facilitated major health initiatives, including the establishment of new wellness centers and support for personal fitness memberships for Cherokee Nation citizens.
Warner stated, ”This new pilot grant program could mean enhancements to local parks, improvements to water and sanitation systems, and new food security programs, just to name a few ideas. Our new Public Health and Wellness Partners will bring us their ideas and we will do our best to fund as many of the most promising projects, where the need is the greatest, as possible.”
Eligible applicants for this grant program include public schools, non-profit entities that are not religious, and local governments, whether based within or outside the Cherokee Nation Reservation, as long as their efforts impact citizens residing within the reservation.
Although some non-profits already have access to significant annual funding through the Cherokee Nation’s Community and Cultural Outreach department, the PHW Partners program makes $1 million available each year, focusing primarily on capital projects while also allowing for funding of short-term operational expenses related to new pilot programs.
Canaan Duncan, Deputy Secretary of State of the Cherokee Nation, who is involved in overseeing the program, highlighted the importance of demonstrating community need and support: ”With a limited pool of funds entrusted to us by the Council and virtually unlimited opportunities to partner on great projects, we must prioritize, and we must be willing to learn as we go. Public Health and Wellness Grant application reviewers will be looking for projects or pilot programs which serve a wide population where the wellness gaps are the greatest and we will be thinking of ‘wellness’ in the broadest possible terms.”
This initiative arrives during a period of expansive growth of various health and wellness services within the Cherokee Nation, including the establishment of several wellness centers and community centers designed to promote healthy lifestyles.
The PHW Partners program is trial run for the current fiscal year ending on September 30, with intentions to extend the program in the years to come. Interested non-profits can reach out to PHWF@cherokee.org for further details.
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