Americans for Native Americans

Feeling very grateful and humbled for last night’s wonderful Garden Party ... the support of our very generous friends, our awesome hosts Bev and Jeff Fulgham, Hops/Scotch for providing two signature drinks served by Amanda and Josh Havier, Drew Scott of Geronimo Brewing for bringing two of his great craft beers, beautiful flower arrangements by Ann Petro, a golf cart loaned by Mike Rush, our delightful youth who served all the appetizers and desserts, and our photographers George Segelken and Linda Schumann. A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Bill and Connie Eastburn Founders Award to our hosts Bev and Jeff Fulgham and to Dr. Shawnadine Becenti (one of ANA’s earliest nursing scholarship recipients). Auctioneer Michael Ivankovich was there to work his magic with the live auction.

Many thanks to our wonderful insurance agency ... Millham Insurance Company ... for sponsoring ANA's Garden Party again this year! We are so grateful for all they do to assist and address all the insurance needs for our small non-profit no matter what the question or concern. Thank you!

We're excited to partner with the fabulous teachers and staff at Tohaali Community School for their special effort this year ... "Attendance Matters ... Every Child, Every Day." With the absentee rate at Bureau of Indian Education schools at an astounding 52%, the entire Tohaali team is going to work to change that. Here they are showing off their special t-shirts which they will wear each Monday as part of the effort to encourage attendance this year. Go Team!!!

Today's issue of Bucks County Herald’s Prime Time magazine has a wonderful article about our work! We are very grateful to Jodi Spiegel Arthur for her attention to detail and dedication to being sure the article accurately represented our work. You can find the article here: https://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=7bd3eff1-364d-4f14-ad4f-b5039dba40a2 (beginning on page 10) Thank you, Jodi and Prime Time!

Prime Time Magazine Prime Time Magazine - Prime Time Magazine July/August 2024

We are honored to continue with scholarship assistance for Stephanie Arthur, now as she pursues her Masters. Stephanie wrote, “I have been a nurse with Fort Defiance Indian Hospital Board, Inc. for 14 years. I have worked in the Emergency and Operating Departments and now serve as the Nursing Informatics Nurse to help get our site selected as one of Indian Health Service’s sites for a new Electronic Health Record. As an organization, we have been lobbying for a new EHR system to provide better services and now I will be working with a team to make this a reality. I applied to Aspen University and was accepted in the Masters of Science in Nursing for Informatics program. I want to excel in this role for myself and to help better serve the community.
Unm-g Nursing Coordinator

It’s time to assist our schools with supplies for the beginning of the school year and you can help. Shoppers are contacted by email two or three times a year for specific needs: school supplies, clothing, and other items. These special volunteers donate their time and funds, allowing ANA to honor many more requests than would ever be possible without them.. To join this effort, please contact [email protected] Thank you!

Many thanks to our amazing bank ... C&N Bank ... for sponsoring ANA's Garden Party again this year! We are so grateful for all they do to support our small non-profit! If you or your business would like to be a sponsor for our August 17th Garden Party, please email: [email protected] Thank you!

YOU are invited to our annual Garden Party benefiting Native Americans in the Southwest. The Party will be Saturday, August 17, from 4 to 7 pm in Doylestown. The event promises to be a fun-filled gathering: light jazz will entertain us, along with an open bar with signature drinks by Hops/Scotch, craft beers by Geronimo Brewing, and delectable hors d’oeuvres by THE Catering Company. A live auction will include extraordinary items: four (4) tickets to a Pink Concert (August 18), a get-away to New York City and one to the Finger Lakes region. The silent auction will offer a variety of delightful surprises including original works by Bucks County artists, fine dining selections, gift certificates galore, beauty and fitness offerings, and goodies for your children and pets! Ticket cost is $100 per person. For information or to be a sponsor, please email [email protected]

Woo hoo! Join us in congratulating DR. Shawnadine Becenti! So proud of all the hard work and study she has done to achieve her velvet hat! Shawnadine was one of ANA's earliest undergraduate scholarship recipients. It has been an honor to support her as she pursued her Masters, Family Nurse Practitioner, and now Phd!! One of the faculty members at UNM-Gallup, Shawnadine has been an incredible help in setting up our health screenings in the Navajo Nation schools each fall and has accompanied student nurses to Doylestown for our Expanding Horizons in Nursing partnership. Congratulations Shawnadine and thank you for all you do to support the work of ANA!

As we celebrate National Nurses Week, ANA is very proud of all the nursing students who have received ANA scholarships and are now working in their chosen field ... Nursing!

Another scholarship recipient this semester is Uhriath Hansen a 4th semester student who will complete his BSN this summer. He is from Gallup, NM and a 26-year-old Navajo student at the UNM-Gallup. Uhriath wrote, “While growing up in Gallup, I have seen and experienced poverty and failure. When I was younger our family lived in a small house about 20 feet by 20 feet, one big room, no bathroom, or running water. I never knew it was a hard life because many of the other people who lived around us lived in the same conditions. We all had an outhouse (porta-potty), and we had to haul our water from the city and store it in a big tank. In these conditions, we had to use our water very sparingly which meant that showers were limited and there was no wasting water. For a long time, I didn't know we lived in a poor condition until we built a bigger house. Then my perspective and environment changed, and I noticed that how we lived was hard.

One of the biggest and hardest life experiences my family and I faced happened in 2010 when my dad was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphoblastic Leukemia. At this time he was given chemo pills and his health started to fail and he lost his business. After a couple of months, his cancer transformed or mutated into a more deadly cancer known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. From this point, he had to start going for chemotherapy which meant he had to stay at the hospital for long periods. After a year and a half on September 4, 2012, my dad received full body radiation and a bone marrow transplant. While my dad was in the hospital our family at home struggled, we had to borrow money, our vehicles broke, and we had to go on welfare. I have always wished this had never happened, but it has shaped who I am today. I am very glad for who I have become and hope to continue to grow.
.. My dad has been in remission for 7 years, but they have been very hard for him. With his bone marrow transplant comes very many side effects which have left him disabled and unable to work. The biggest lesson I have learned from my dad is to never give up even though you are down and want to give up. I have seen him at his lowest when he wants to give up but looks at his family and keeps on pushing. I know this will be a great lesson in my life that will benefit me a whole lot.

I graduated in 2016 from The Middle College High School in Gallup. The Middle College High School is a charter school that allows young high school students to graduate with an associate degree in liberal arts. When I was accepted, I made it a goal to graduate with an Associate and maintain a 3.0 GPA average. I achieved this goal, never lowering my standards, and always striving to do my best. I know this was one of the greatest things that has blessed my life because I would have never been able to afford this on my own and had the support from my family. Thank you ANA."

Congratulations Uhriath ...ANA is honored to support you!

The Native American Veterinarian Services (NAVS) veterinarians, vet techs, and volunteers returned from another successful week of clinics. They visited Hopi, Kayenta, and new this year was the Alamo Navajo Reservation. While at Hopi they performed 101 dog surgeries, 41 cat surgeries, and gave 60 vaccinations.

ANA is pleased to support the NAVS efforts with funding for supplies, transportation, and a cultural experience for the Penn students. This year ANA purchased a much needed autoclave and an ultrasonic cleaner for the clinics.

We are so grateful for the dedication of this wonderful team of volunteers and all those whose pets are much better as a result of their work.

One of the nurses who has received an ANA scholarship this semester for advanced degree work is Meriyea Upshaw. She has earned scholarships from ANA in her undergraduate work and was selected to come to Doylestown for our nursing exchange in 2016. We are honored and proud to support her as she completes her Family Nurse Practitioner certification.

Meriyea is Navajo from Tohatchi, NM, and mother to a 12-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. She is a registered nurse on the Intensive Care Unit at Tsehootsooi Medical Center in Fort Defiance, AZ. Meriyea wrote, “I started my associate's degree in nursing at UNM-Gallup and finished at Santa Fe Community College in 2017. My nursing career then began at Tsehootsooi Medical Center as a new graduate nurse, where I continued my education and received my Bachelor of Science of Nursing (BSN) degree at Grand Canyon University in 2021. I am now pursuing my Master's in Science of Nursing-Family Nurse Practitioner at the UNM. I am striving to persevere comprehensive healthcare along with up-to-date education within evidence-based practice for my Navajo rural communities.

My definitive professional goal is to be an active member in my community's heath care team. Thus, enduring education that ensures my care is efficient in the primary, secondary and tertiary stages. A Family Nurse Practitioner role focuses on managing patients' health conditions, while also aiding in prevention for families across all ages and demographics, body systems and diseases. The FNP program has already provided me with the knowledge and the skill set to achieve this goal. I will be able to alter treatment strategies based on a patient's condition, all with special consideration on the Navajo culture and beliefs. Through continued education in chasing my MSN, I will be able to not only provide optimal care to my Navajo/rural communities but offer them effective patient education. Native Americans are facing high rates of cancer, unintentional injuries and diabetes across the board.

At present the US is facing a provider shortage and this nationwide shortage influences rural and under-served patient populations even more. Several facilities located on the Navajo reservation including Tsehootsooi Medical Center cannot measure up to the larger urban facilities when it comes to compensation, therefore most providers or health care professionals do not desire employment in rural areas. As a result the recruitment and retention of health care providers are altered. Our facility has had numerous patients wait months before getting a primary care provider assignment or have been assigned multiple providers in a short time span. I want to be a part of the solution. I am prepared to continue to serve my people as a nurse practitioner and be one more Navajo provider our community has available.

I have now made it to the conclusion of the program with an expected graduation date of May 10, 2024. However, in the last year of my program I had to make the sacrifice of stepping away from my full-time job in order to be successful in this graduate program.”

Congratulations, Meriyea!! Unm-g Nursing Coordinator University of New Mexico-Gallup Nursing Department

For the Spring 2024 semester, ANA awarded 10 undergraduate scholarships to nursing students at UNM-Gallup, NCLEX certificate testing fees to 3 graduates, and 3 individuals received family scholarships: Kutenplon, Woodall, and the CTC Foundation. ANA awarded a number of scholarships for advanced degree and certification courses.

We are anxious for you to meet some of these amazing nurses / nursing students and pleased to begin with Talia Begay. Talia wrote: "As a recipient of the ANA Scholarship for the Spring 2024 semester, I want to thank you immensely for funding this scholarship! I am a level 3 nursing student with a 3.8 GPA and I am on track to graduate in the Fall of 2024. I am beyond grateful for the skills, knowledge, and experiences I have gained thus far. All of which will help to shape me into becoming a compassionate and capable nurse. My future educational goals are obtaining my BSN and one day becoming a nurse practitioner. I also plan to stay in the local area to give back to both the Navajo people and my hometown community of Gallup, NM. There are only 0.04% registered nurses that are of Native American ethnicity and fewer of that percentage return to their respective Native American reservations. Thanks to this scholarship I can continue to remain steadfast and focused on my educational goals full time, without having to utilize student loans or seek outside employment. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and thank you again for investing in the University of New Mexico-Gallup and nursing students like me. I hope to give back to the university someday to help other students reach their educational goals with a scholarship as well. I wish you and your organization all the best!"

Congratulations Talia! Unm-g Nursing Coordinator

Members and friends of Doylestown Presbyterian Church spent last week working in the Community Pantry in Gallup, NM. The crew is always amazed at how the staff accomplishes all they do with so few staff members. They kept the team busy with many tasks including: repacking Brussels sprouts, hashed brown potatoes, broccoli, elbow macaroni, grapefruit (54 crates), sliced cheese (400 lbs.), stuffing 1,000 goodie bags for the community’s Easter celebration, packing bags for homeless clients, harvesting seeds from the marigolds the Pantry grows with proceeds from their sale benefitting the Pantry. Each day the crew helped assemble the commodity boxes to be distributed to the clients the next day and there were always Food for Kids bags to fill.

Tuesday brought further appreciation of how much the Pantry is depended on in the community during emergencies. The community of Fence Lake, about an hour south of Gallup, had a devastating power loss. Because of periods of rain, snow, and ice, a telephone pole split and fell down taking 66 more down with it! It will take an untold amount of time to repair as the ground is so saturated, they can’t replace the poles until the ground dries out substantially. The Panty was asked to provide emergency food boxes for the community. The DPC crew focused their efforts on accomplishing this ... 150 twenty-five pound boxes of food by the 11 a.m. deadline were packed! Hilda Kendall, the COO at the Pantry, said had we not been there, they would have had to shut down the food distribution and put their staff on the job.

Many, many thanks to Doylestown Presbyterian Church for sending mission teams to help in the Pantry twice a year ... we are all very grateful for your hard work and dedication!!

What fun to join with staff and students at Mariano Lake for Dr. Seuss' birthday and Read Across America Day. A variety of Dr. Seuss books were sent so each child in the school could receive their own book. The teachers wanted their students to enter the Tenth Annual Youth Art Show, so ANA provided all the supplies they needed! What talented artists the Kindergarten through 3rd graders are! We are so proud of all of you!

Happy Valentine's Day from the second graders at Mariano Lake Community School! A joy to join with the teachers who gifted their students with a furry friend as a Valentine's Day treat!

Congratulations to the Spring 2024 University of New Mexico- Gallup scholarship recipients. This semester ANA awarded 10 undergraduate scholarships, 3 special scholarships: the Kutenplon scholarship, the Woodall scholarship, and the CTC Foundation scholarship. One scholarship was awarded for a graduate ready to take her NCLEX Licensure exam. Two nurses who work at Tsehootsooi Medical Center in Ft. Defiance, NM, were awarded scholarships for advanced studies. We are delighted ANA has expanded its reach this semester with a scholarship for two nursing students – one at UNM Main Campus and one at UNM-San Juan Campus. Over the next few weeks, watch for brief biographies about some of these students. Congratulations to all of them! University of New Mexico-Gallup Nursing Department

Look at these awesome young athletes at Tohaali Community School sporting their new basketball uniforms! We're delighted to support the teams! Go Cardinals!!!

Helping to End Period Poverty .. Did you know one in four students struggle to purchase period / “moon time” products, which means they might have to skip school during all or part of their moon time. This is true for Native American students as well. The The Kwek Society provides period supplies and puberty education materials to many schools and programs across the US which serve Indigenous students. The Society graciously provides period supplies to many of the schools ANA works with.

ANA is partnering with the Kwek Society by recruiting volunteers to sew “moon time bags” from the pattern the Society provides. ANA will fill the completed bags with the period products and mail them to ANA and Kwek partner schools. If you would like to help, you can find the directions to make “moon time bags” on ANA’s website: https://bit.ly/ANA-GI For more information, email [email protected]

It is with deep gratitude and thanks that we look back on 2023 as ANA continued to partner with our friends on the Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni Nations. All of this was possible only because of our amazing supporters who join in our work either by volunteering their time and / or resources. As a result, 2023 was the most successful year in ANA's 32 years. THANK YOU!!!

If you would like to join in our efforts, please:
EMAIL with questions: [email protected]
VISIT our website: americansfornativeamericans.org
DONATE to help support our work: https://bit.ly/ANA_Donate
SHARE this post with friends.
LIKE our page.

10 Years!! For10 years, the residents at The Manor at York Town have had a Christmas collection for the Native Americans we serve. This year's collection produced 1,034 beautiful and thoughtfully purchased items. including 29 wonderful winter coats. We extend our deepest gratitude to the residents who so faithfully donate to this collection every year.

Many thanks to a cadre of shoppers who answer the call to shop for specific items requested by our schools throughout the year! As a result, it took a truck to load the 28 boxes full of new clothing, coats, shoes, toys, and blankets bound for five of the schools we work with. ANA's shoppers are contacted by email two or three times a year for specific needs: clothing, school supplies, or other items. These special volunteers donate their time, effort, and funds which allow ANA to honor many more requests than would ever be possible without them. To join this effort, please email [email protected]. THANK YOU!

Looking for gifts that give twice? Check out ANA's Etsy site: https://bit.ly/ANAEtsy
Ornaments: a variety of Santas and angels for individuals or company gifts
Quilts: Christmas, lap quilts and baby quilts
Pillow cases: fun for kids, bed-ridden patients, and birthday gifts
For questions or special pricing on bulk ornaments, please email [email protected]
All proceeds (after shipping) go directly to ANA's programs.

The fall Native American Veterinarian Services clinics to Hopi and Kayenta (Navajo) were very busy and successful as always. Dr. Bartfield DVM reported from Hopi: “So many needy dogs, cats, horses and sheep. So many strays. We caught 3 dogs at our lodgings. They were vetted, vaccinated, and sterilized. Most of our surgeries are on dogs. Horses get vaccines, dentals and deworming, and one c**t was castrated. Things are so dire on the reservations. People can barely feed and house themselves, much less their pets. Chewy delivered a huge truckload of food and kennels and assorted pet items. Everything was handed out within hours! I brought dog and cat food with me as did other vets volunteering here and we gave all of that away as well.”

Stats for Kayenta: Surgery on 92 dogs and cats; radiographed and immobilized a fractured leg on a 40 lb dog; euthanized an older female dog with multiple malignant tumors and a very frail old horse (he was a world champion twice), floated teeth on 12 horses and gelded one horse

Stats for Hopi: 116 surgeries on small animals, one dog had a pyometra and could have died if she wasn’t spayed. Sadly 2 dogs needed to be euthanized. For large animals, 110 sheep and one ram were vaccinated, a horse gelded and numerous horses vaccinated. Several puppies that were found were adopted by the volunteers and taken home.

Many thanks to all the veterinarians and volunteers who volunteered a week of their time for these clinics.

ANA works diligently with schools and their teachers to provide requested books to help overcome their huge reading literacy deficit. Emails like this and the smiles on children's faces bring us such joy! Jerrod Hunkus the 2nd grade teacher at Mariano Lake emailed: "I wanted to say thank you again and to share that we just finished our third Henry and Mudge chapter book as a class that you gifted us. I wish you could hear these kids reading, they are having a blast reading books that they are interested in! We just finished "Under the Yellow Moon" and all agreed that it has been our favorite so far. The kids are so excited when they know they get to take the book home and read it to their families. Thank you so much for your generosity, encouragement and support of our love for reading!"

If you would like to help purchase books for children, you may do so here https://bit.ly/DonateANA Choose "Books for Children" when you donate. Thank you!

ANA has been honored with one of the first Top-Rated Awards of 2023 from Great Nonprofits! We appreciate all of your contributions ... we couldn't do it without the amazing support of so many! THANK YOU!!! https://greatnonprofits.org/org/americans-for-native-americans

ANA’s supporters are THE. BEST!! Their dedication to and support for the Food for Kids (FFK) program, administered by The Community Pantry in Gallup, NM, is nothing short of over-the-top amazing! ANA, by far the largest donor to the program, first donated $10,000 to FFK in 2004. It is humbling to announce that this year ANA was able to donate $127,000 to the program ($30,000 more than last year)! This will include funding to hire a person to help with the very tedious job of packing the 900 bags needed each week to feed the children in the program. Included is the Kids Café, which provides children with after school snacks, which will receive $10,000. Many, many thanks to so many who made this possible.

Start your holiday shopping early!! ANA's Etsy Shop has lots of awesome Christmas ornaments, quilts, and pillow cases. Now through Wednesday 10/11 at 11:59 pm EST, Etsy will give you $10 off any purchase of $40 or more ... use the code YES10 at check out. ANA's shop: https://ananativeamericans.etsy.com There is no limit to the times you may use the code. Add the code at checkout where it says ‘Apply Etsy Coupon’ (not the ‘apply shop coupon codes’).