Partnership With Native Americans

PWNA focuses on remote, geographically-isolated and often impoverished Native American communities with limited employment opportunities or access to basic necessities. Our partnerships with reservation programs in hundreds of tribal communities across the Southwest and Northern Plains regions of the U.S. support positive change, enhance tribal programs and develop local leaders who can drive social change. This is the primary goal behind our vision, whether a reservation partner is focusing on immediate needs (such as nutrition, education or healthcare) or championing long-term, grassroots solutions.

OUR APPROACH:
PWNA recognizes that poverty is a social problem with a social solution. We are also aware of the difficult history of oppressive federal policies that have shaped many of the current difficult living conditions in remote reservation communities. This knowledge informs our programmatic approach, which is building upon assets within the communities we serve, bringing together individuals, programs, training, outside resources and encouragement to address challenges and support positive change.

Our community-driven model leverages the social capital of a larger network mobilizing toward a common solution. Local participation and engagement are known to lead to sustainable gains and social change for the communities and people involved. Whether we approach this through our Material Services or Long-Term Solutions, the key is developing and supporting momentum with many future leaders across many reservations and maintaining it over the long run. Collaborating with reservation partners, PWNA believes this approach will lead us toward our vision of strong, self-sufficient Native American communities. We look forward to the time when the communities with whom we work no longer require PWNA's support because they are accessing other resources, most of which come from within their communities.

HOW CHANGE HAPPENS:
Examples of how change happens at a community level as a result of our work with partners include situations such as:

• A student who receives our scholarship earns a college degree and is better equipped to serve their community.
• A thriving food bank that was needed and planned, but not yet established, received a start-up grant.
*A tribal community works with PWNA on emergency preparedness planning and training to better respond when disaster strikes.
*Professional cooks in tribal communities train with PWNA on healthy cooking and ancestral foods, and pass on the knowledge to others.

Over the next three to five years, PWNA's work entails training and empowering more tribal employees that are change agents and leaders in their communities, continuing to support higher education for American Indian students who are motivated to make a difference for their tribes, and continuing to identify and support high-impact efforts that lead to long-term solutions for the people we serve.

Each reservation PWNA serves has different goals and needs. PWNA employs four service strategies to ensure relevant and meaningful support for each community:

• MATERIAL SERVICES: Our Material Services address immediate needs for Northern Plains reservations, Southwest reservations, education and animal welfare. PWNA provides essential supplies and seasonal services that our Native community partners need to enhance their service to the community, for example, food that enables soup kitchens to provide more or better meals or enables food pantries to serve more people. Some of our community partners also use our goods as incentives to motivate participation, volunteerism, and retention in their programs, such as diapers and baby wipes (needed items) that encourage women to participate in prenatal care.

• HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICES: The purpose of Higher Education Services is to increase college access and support retention of Native American students in school. These services are one of our Long-Term Solutions for strong, self-sufficient Native American communities.

• CAPACITY BUILDING: The purpose of our Capacity Building services is to better equip reservation partners that want to make a greater contribution to their communities. We do this through: Four Directions (4D) leadership training of emerging leaders, mentoring and organized networking; Train-the-Trainer (T3) nutrition education to ensure professional cooks prepare healthy meals and can teach otehrs to do the same; and Emergency Preparedness planning with tribal communities to ensure an effective localized response when disaster strikes. Capacity Building helps motivated professionals at our partner agencies be more effective at work and have more impact on the people they serve.

• COMMUNITY INVESTMENT PROJECTS: These projects aim to positively impact the lives of tribal members and to deliver a sustainable gain for Native communities — thus the name “Community Investment Projects" (CIPs). PWNA supports and convenes community networks to address long-term concerns such as food sovereignty, nutrition-related health issues or youth development. We help bring together reservation needs and community-identified solutions with off-reservation resources. We also support community members leading grassroots projects in catalyzing local residents around the issues they want to address. The end goal is identifying, resourcing and implementing long-term, sustainable solutions in reservation communities. One example is supporting a food sovereignty initiative that started with garden tilling to help a reservation partner motivate local gardening and ultimately generate in interest in fresh produce, canning, a greenhouse and a farmer's market.

All these approaches support community leaders and change makers, while meeting immediate needs or supporting long-term solutions. We also raise awareness about challenging disparities and solutions in need of funding.

• CULTURAL COMPETENCY: PWNA has been working on the reservations for nearly 30 years. This has equipped us with extensive knowledge of the history, cultures and concerns of the Native American tribes and communities we serve.
• A STRONG NETWORK ON THE RESERVATIONS: Hundreds of reservation agencies partner with PWNA and keep us informed about needs and changes in Indian country. These are the people we must influence for our work to be successful, as they are the catalysts for change in reservation communities.
• THE PWNA WAY: At the core of our work, what distinguishes PWNA from other Native-serving charities is supporting the self-determined goals of our reservation partners. These partners identify the needs and solutions in their communities, and we involve them and local volunteers in the delivery of the service. This is a respectful way of working with Native communities.
• PROGRAM LOGIC MODEL & FEEDBACK LOOP: Partnership With Native Americans has a program model based on sound logic, partner input and monitored results. Our services involve specific guidelines and indicators that help us know we are delivering the right type of service to the right communities at the right time.
• COMMUNICATION TOOLS: Communication is an important part of moving our vision forward. In isolated reservation communities, communication is often a challenge due to limited infrastructure or access to Internet, stable phone lines and sometimes post offices. PWNA has a variety of ways to stay in touch with our partner agencies, ranging from focus groups, talking circles, town hall meetings, and site visits to newsletters, a resource site, a networking site, phoning, faxing and email messaging.
• INDUSTRY & PROFESSIONAL NETWORK: PWNA collaborates with other organizations such as the American Red Cross, FEMA, VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster), and food banks. By working together, we can do more and have more impact.
• DIVERSE & CONCERNED DONORS: Material donors such as Mathew 25, International Aid, and Feeding America give quality products such as school supplies, hygiene items, and winter coats, hats, and gloves that are used in PWNA services. We also receive monetary donations from foundations and about half a million individual donors concerned about conditions on the reservations.
• DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS: Strategically located distribution centers in SD and AZ give us affordable reach to 60 reservations, which otherwise have limited access to the goods and services we provide. Each distribution facility stocks an inventory of more than 700 types of products.
• HUMAN CAPITAL: Our staff is passionate about our mission, and all of our program staff has direct experience working in Indian country. Being knowledgeable of the issues, lands, culture, history, and tribal programs and processes supports strong partnerships and maximum impact for the communities we serve.

PWNA has been serving Indian Country for 30 years, evolving its cultural competency and programming to impact hundreds of tribal communities. Together with our tribal partners, we are improving quality of life for 250,000 Native Americans a year. OUR MOST CRITICAL ACCOMPLISHMENT is lifting up tribal citizens who are in the best position to create long-term change and advocate for policy change for Indian country. PWNA cannot bring about the legal, government, healthcare, and tribal policy change required for our long-term vision, so we focus on those who can – our tribal partners. Our effectiveness depends on their effectiveness and, on average, 90% of them report being more effective due to working with PWNA. These local change agents move us toward our vision of strong, self-sufficient Native American communities. OTHER THINGS PWNA IS DOING RIGHT are involving the people we serve in the delivery of the service to challenge poverty and dependency, listening to our tribal partners (aka customers) to strengthen our outcomes, ensuring the right infrastructure and in-kind network to support our work, and looking to industry experts for input.

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES: PWNA effectively supports tribal communities by:
• Responding to the need for new services, such as leadership development, train-the-trainer and emergency preparedness
• Supporting long-term solutions led by tribal community members tackling pressing issues such as food security
• Supporting access to education and retention of K-12 and college students
• Providing about 5M lbs. of supplies annually that help tribal programs enhance their services and boost participation in health screenings, community projects and more

OUR NEXT STEP: PWNA will continue to support and develop reservation change agents through a balance of immediate relief and long-term solutions. Areas of focus will include:
• High-need supplies to help tribal partners address immediate needs in nutrition, prevention, education, emergency services, animal welfare and holiday support
• Community investment to enhance food security, such as community gardens, food preservation, and cooking with fresh produce for healthier diets
• Strengthening the next generation of community leaders though a focus on capacity building, such as:
• Scholarships and mentoring by Native professionals employed by our corporate partners
• Train-the-trainer education for those who prepare congregate meals with local foods and train others
• Engaging Native youth in healthy nutrition, ancestral foods, and traditional food as medicine
• Professional development of emerging leaders who want to make a greater impact in their communities
• Emergency preparedness planning and CERT training with community leaders and volunteers to better prepare remote reservations to respond when disaster strikes
• Connecting tribes with outside resources
• Public education about realities on the reservations and misconceptions