PRESENT
In 2024, our team will continue to expand wellness services for our community by continuing to center Indigenous elders, uplift contemporary representation, and through increased intergenerational, cohort-based chronic disease prevention and management offerings. We will also offer services dedicated to raising awareness, advocacy, and support for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) and their loved ones. We will continue to center arts and our diverse cultures through each of these services to uplift mental health and indigenize education around these critical matters impacting our community.
Direct Service Scholarships
We offer critical mental health scholarships for self-identified American Indian/Alaska Native and Indigenous community members to receive (10) one-to-one therapy sessions. Our goal is to increase access to direct services with a mental health provider and make therapy more affordable. Join our newsletter and follow our socials for updates on when scholarships will be available next!
Reclaiming Indigenous Wellness
This spring-summer 2024 cohort project provides community members with diabetes and related chronic disease prevention/management education that is rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems. This cohort engages intergenerational community members through three in-person gatherings focused on connection through art as a way to support physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness. Gatherings are grounded within the context of our collective histories to empower community members to identify commonalities, strengths and integrate practical wellness tools.
Relatives, Restoration and Reciprocity
This second spring-summer 2024 cohort project is dedicated to reducing health disparities and chronic diseases among AI/AN and Indigenous community members in Los Angeles County through culture, (re)connection and action. The goal of this project is to support local Indigenous families in building lifelong habits that start at home and contribute to the collective health and resiliency of our community. We do this specifically by increasing awareness, prevention and management of diabetes type 2 through three in-person cultural gatherings and two virtual gatherings.
Visible Relatives
This three-part, spring-summer 2024 series is designed to raise awareness, provide support, and identify resources for community members impacted by the ongoing Murdered Missing Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) crisis. This project promotes MMIP advocacy resources with the goal of improving access to local, state-wide, and national supportive services. This project also implement traditional ways of healing through cultural art activities including painting, beading and candle-making.
Elder Gathering Project
This project will include five gatherings developed for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Elder community members throughout Los Angeles County. The Elder Gatherings aim to reduce mental health barriers for AI/AN elders through discussions of cultural traditions in mental health and healing. This project aims to utilize traditional methods of healing (storytelling, gardening/plant medicines, spirituality, history, songs, and food) with the goal of building connections, reclaiming traditions, and improving overall health outcomes. The goal is to engage 15 elder community members at each event.
MMIWG2-S Awareness Campaign
The AI/AN UsCC’s objective is to create content that will reach and inspire AI/AN community members to promote mental health services, reduce stigma and barriers to mental health services, increase the capacity of the public mental health system in Los Angeles County, and increase engagement in the LACDMH stakeholder process. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit (MMIWG2-S) Awareness Campaign includes production and distribution of five videos that will serve as the centerpiece of engagement efforts to raise awareness about the ongoing MMIWG2-S crisis. The five videos will identify resources for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) community members and highlight the negative health impacts violence has on the community overall, with specific focus on how violence against AI/AN community members is a serious public health issue.