Native News Network

Announcing Two ICWA Training Sessions:

InterTribal Youth Programs

http://www.firstnations.org/

First Nations Issues 2014-15 RFP for Urban Native Nonprofit Human Service Focus

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) and the National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC) are accepting applications from nonprofit organizations that increase the availability and effectiveness of comprehensive community programs in urban Indian centers and communities.  The project also supports new and expanded activities in urban Indian environments with the goal of improving opportunities that can be attained in all Native American urban communities. 

With Kresge Foundation support, First Nations and NUIFC will work directly with three urban Native American nonprofits to help them improve their management and leadership skills.  Capacity building grants will be awarded to organizations whose core mission is to serve and engage with urban American Indian populations through a mix of housing, child welfare, employment, food bank, workforce, youth development, cultural, language, financial education, recreation, and commercial amenities. 

GRANT MAKING PRIORITIES

First Nations receive many proposals from qualified organizations than it is able to fund, therefore, the application process is highly competitive.

When making funding decisions, First Nations prioritizes organizations that exhibit these characteristics:

• Actively engages American Indian community members in future changes to the urban environment
• Capacity, ability and interest in providing, or expanding on existing integrated asset building programs that include Native American-controlled Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), housing programs, Individual Development Account (IDA) programs, financial education programs and financial service programs (e.g. Earned Income Tax Credit and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)) that are conduits for building their communities’ ability to improve management of and access to (primarily financial) assets
• Serve as information center and resource for the community while realizing cultural preservation and leveraging cultural assets
• Engages American Indian community members in thinking about long-term outcomes and the way in which to engage productive process to hold institutions accountable to best practices and policy as the urban landscape grows and changes
• Highlight the urban experience and expertise of your nonprofit and act as a good model of good planning, infrastructure, community organizing and leadership
• Name up to ten individuals/leaders to engage in an organizational assessment and/or on-site training, and share practices, exchange information, and explore strategies with other American Indian urban projects/centers/nonprofit organizations thorugh First Nation’s Leadership Academy. These leaders will have interest and ability to discuss, debate, and analyze the current and future social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental landscape in the urban environment
• Offer innovative programs and services that reflect evidence-based solutions, and/or that represent creative, effective approaches to addressing persistent needs or challenges
• Support of additional local and/or regional partner organizations and leaders
• Receive support from other foundation and corporate funders
• Ability to meet the specific needs of partners and funders
• Ability to carry out the logistical and practical preparation for a two-day meeting (secures facility for the meeting, provide audio-visual equipment, arrange for field trip or tour).
• Intention and readiness to implement actions emerging from training and technical assistance activities.

The greater the number of these characteristics that describe your organization, the more competitive your application will likely be.

To be eligible, nonprofit organizations must be recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  Applicants can be national urban American Indian centers or Native nonprofits based in urban settings. 

http://ncidc.org/scholarships-native-american-students

Good Morning,

USDA to Consider Tribal Projects to End Childhood Hunger

The USDA has announced new funding opportunities for state agencies and Indian tribal organizations to develop innovative strategies to prevent hunger and food insecurity. The demonstration projects under the new initiative are designed to find solutions so that no child goes hungry.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 provided $40 million to conduct and evaluate demonstration projects aimed at ending childhood hunger, including alternative models for service delivery and benefit levels that promote the reduction or elimination of childhood hunger and food insecurity. Nutritious foods are essential to getting kids off to a healthy start in life, and too many families are unable to provide proper nutrition for their children.

Potential projects could include innovative program delivery models for school meals, after-school snack programs, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program; enhanced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for eligible households with children; and changes to other targeted federal, state or local assistance, including refundable tax credits, emergency housing, employment and training, or family preservation services for households with children who are experiencing food insecurity.

Through these demonstration projects, USDA will target areas or populations where there are currently elevated levels of food insecurity or gaps in nutrition-assistance program coverage. The HHFKA requires that at least one demonstration project be carried out on an Indian reservation in a rural area with a service population having a prevalence of diabetes that exceeds 15 percent.

"With the food access challenges facing many rural tribal areas, we're focused on using this initiative to find better ways to get more nutritious food to the children in those areas in particular," said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Approximately $30 million will be awarded for up to five demonstration projects in the form of cooperative agreements between USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and grantees. The remaining funds will be used for independent evaluations of each project.

The Request for Applications is on Grants.gov at this link:http://www.grants.gov/view-opportunity.html?oppId=252785.  Letters of Intent are due on May 1, 2014, and completed applications are due on July 7, 2014. FNS will consider only one application from each state, U.S. territory, Indian tribal organization (ITO), or the District of Columbia. However, FNS will consider applications from both a state and an ITO with different proposed project sites in the same state. For more information, please visithttp://www.fns.usda.gov/demonstration-projects-end-childhood-hunger.

USDA's FNS administers America's nutrition assistance programs including the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Summer Food Service Program, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Together these programs make up the federal nutrition safety net.

AISES Offers Student Travel Scholarships to Leadership Summit

With Xerox Foundation funding, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) will provide support to 10 students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.  Students must be a full-time undergraduate student (or high school senior headed to higher education) at an accredited four-year college/university or a full-time student at a two-year college enrolled in a program leading to an academic degree.
 
The selected scholars will receive travel scholarships to attend the 2014 Leadership Summit, being held March 20-22, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa at Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico, where they will be connected to others within the AISES student and professional leadership and gain leadership and personal development skill-building.  For more information about the Leadership Summit, please go to:   http://www.aises.org/news/events/2014-leadership-summit
 
Eligibility: Eligible students must be pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.  Students must be enrolled as full-time students in their field of study during the Spring 2014 semester.
 
Applicants MUST meet all of the following criteria: 
1.    Must have a 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) or higher cumulative grade-point average (GPA).  Latest Official Transcripts (issued by your school registrar's office) will be required.
2.    Must be a full-time (12 credit hours or more) student at a two-year or four-year college or university, enrolled in a program leading to an academic degree (not a certificate) in a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) field.
3.    Must be a member of an American Indian tribe or otherwise considered to be an American Indian by the tribe with which affiliation is claimed; or is Alaskan Native; or considered to be an Alaskan Native by an Alaskan Native group to which affiliation is claimed; Official Documentation identifying the student as such must be provided.
4.    Must be a member of AISES to apply.  To obtain an AISES membership go tohttp://www.aises.org/membership/

Applications can be found here: 
http://www.aises.org/news/events/2014-leadership-summit
 
For more information about this project or for details on how to apply for this project, please contact Tina M. Farrenkopf, Director of Programs, at 720-552-6123 or email her at tfarrenkopf@aises.org, no later than March 10, 2014.

    First Nations Elder Grant (March 14th deadline): FNDI expects to make between four and five awards at a maximum amount of $25,000 for projects addressing elderly nutrition.  More information and the online application are available at http://www.firstnations.org/grantmaking/2014nafsi.

• Wallace Center Food Hub Grant (March 30th deadline): The Wallace Center is accepting applications promoting food hubs.  Between 15 to 30 applications ranging from $10,000 to $75,000 are expected to be funded.
  
• ANA Grant (April 15th deadline): The Administration for Native Americans (ANA), which is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services is currently accepting applications in five different areas.  Food and agriculture projects probably best fit under the economic development related areas.  Applications, which are due April 15th, may be up to $500,000 and can last multiple years.  Here is a list of past grant awards.
• USDA Farm to School (April 30 deadline): USDA has announced the availability of farm to school grants.  There are three types of grants 1) planning, 2) implementation, and 3) support service.
• BIA Climate Change Adaptation Grants (April 30 deadline): The Bureau of Indian Affairs is accepting applications for projects aimed at addressing climate change impacts.  Send an email to climate-adaptation-grant-info@bia.gov for more information.

Written by Arizona State University at March 2, 2014

Emery Tahy left his home at age 16 after a high school counselor told him he’d be better off learning a trade since he was failing in school. Now he’s finishing his master’s degree at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona while working toward his goal of becoming a tribal leader.

Tahy’s journey through life has taken him from the small Navajo reservation community of Westwater, Utah, to Job Corps where he learned the value of working hard and to the university where he discovered a passion for American Indian Studies.

Learning electrician and iron worker skills through Job Corps served him well after high school, but he always felt like there was something missing from his life. Then the bottom fell out of the economy.

“I learned a lot from that experience and I will always have a trade, but I felt that there was a void. There was something missing,” Tahy said.

When construction work dried up during the recession, he worked for Native American Connections in Phoenix that introduced him to research and aiding American Indians in the city.

“I felt like I would have more opportunities if I had a degree,” he added. “I feel like education is the key to being successful.”

Taking classes at a community college began to fill that void as did transferring to ASU to earn his bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in American Indian Studies.

“I’m really passionate about politics,” he said. “I felt like I was always engaged in what was going on in the world while doing construction, but I felt left out. Education was what was missing.”

American Indian Studies classes taught him about tribal governance and led him to the realization that he could give back to his people and his nation through education. He’ll finish his master’s degree this December.

…

This article:

Student Spotlight: Education Is Key to Future Tribal Leadership