Western Native Voice makes impact with COVID-19 relief
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Western Native Voice accepts a face shield donation.
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MONTANA — Western Native Voice, a nonprofit social justice organization, has been working since May 2020 to bring COVID-19 relief to their hardest-hit communities in Montana with COVID-19 relief funds, safety training and educational Facebook-Live events.
The programs, along with partnerships with Dr. Cora Neumann (We Are Montana Founder and the vaccine task force member who advocated for Native Communities) and Jace Killsback, MPH, have created a rapid response network that benefits tribal communities across the state.
In 2020, Western Native Voice and partner We Are Montana raised over $153K and delivered or facilitated aid to over 2,000 organizations, individuals, health workers and families, including masks, face shields, coveralls, gloves, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, food aid, fuel cards, garbage cans/sanitation support, hot-water heaters, splash shields, turkeys (food drive for Thanksgiving), COVID and winter supply drive, COVID safety flyers and materials, support for awareness/media mask-wearing and COVID safety campaigns and more.
WNV reached out to Montana community members to survey the unmet needs of people dealing with the pandemic through social media and an online form on their website. Since the pandemic began, WNV and WAM have trained over 600 state, tribal and community members in COVID safety. In Dec. 2020, (10) $1,500 Caregiver grants were awarded to community members who went “the extra mile” to bring relief to families dealing with COVID-19. WNV plans to feature some of the caregiver award recipients in their community spotlight feature on their website throughout 2021.
“The caregiver award celebrates and honors those in our Native communities who have quietly gone above and beyond caring for and giving to those most in need during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ronnie Jo Horse, Western Native Voice’s executive director.
The COVID-19 Relief Fund was established to help Western Native Voice respond to the urgent requests from Montana’s Native leaders for resources to support their communities, protect elders and ensure front-line workers have the protection and supplies they need. Personal protective equipment, water, cleaning supplies, food and medication delivery support for elders and the immunocompromised and educational tools are all needed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 through Montana’s Tribal Nations.
Tribal communities have strong social support systems but face critical health concerns, such as high rates of diabetes, heart disease, respiratory illnesses and other conditions and are more vulnerable to severe cases of COVID-19.
Neumann said: “Since a state of emergency was declared in March, tribal governments and Native leaders have responded consistently and effectively to keep their communities safe. Unfortunately, due to pre-existing health and socio-economic disparities among Native communities – and in some cases due to resistance to mask mandates and gathering limits in surrounding communities – Montana’s tribal communities have experienced a devastating loss.”
“I am grateful that our state has responded to our call to prioritize Native communities in Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout, however, there is still an urgent need for support to mitigate the pandemic’s short and long-term consequences on communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.”
Western Native Voice is a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization working to inspire Native leadership through community organizing, education, leadership and advocacy. With seven percent of Montana’s population being Native American living almost evenly split between reservation and urban areas, WNV organizes in both rural and urban communities using a culturally tailored community organizing and citizen education model to build Native leadership.
