TAHLEQUAH, OK – Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner have announced a task force to examine ways that the tribe can support its 86 affiliated non-profit organizations across the reservation and United States.
“Community organizing is not a new idea for Cherokees, but instead is a foundational principle that dates to time immemorial,” said Chief Hoskin. “What I am asking this new task force to do is to help us undertake how we can leverage the hundreds of millions of dollars in recent investment at the community level into even greater success for our CCO participating organizations here at home and at large.”
Cherokee Nation Community and Cultural Outreach (CCO) works with the 60 community organizations across the reservation and more than two dozen such organizations outside the Cherokee Nation to provide supportive grants, as well as programming to address culture and quality of life issues.
Across the reservation, CCO participating organizations operate 32 community buildings with some under construction, which serve as the hub of cultural and community life and provide places to gather during emergencies such as inclement weather.
In 2019, Chief Hoskin, Deputy Chief Warner and the Council passed the Housing, Jobs and Sustainable Communities Act (HJSCA), extending the law and finally making it permanent last year. Although primarily a housing law, HJSCA also provided millions of dollars annually to support capital and operational funds to CCO participating organizations. Cherokee Nation also invested a substantial amount of American Rescue Plan Act funds in these organizations under the tribe’s Respond, Recover and Rebuild Plan.
“I am proud of how we have worked together to reach the community level and invest in programs, organizations and facilities to help lift communities up,” said Deputy Chief Warner. “In the last five years, we injected over $35 million into the grass roots, but we need to make sure we don’t simply spend money and build buildings – we need to work alongside Cherokees at the grassroots level continually. This task force will help us do just that.”
The task force, led by Cherokee Nation Deputy Secretary of State Canaan Duncan, will focus on possible barriers and opportunities for local programming, building usage, fundraising and volunteerism, needs assessments and construction among other areas. Task force members include:
- Canaan Duncan, Deputy Secretary of State (Chair)
- Savannah Smith, Executive Director of Community and Cultural Outreach (Co-Chair)
- Dawni Squirrel, Cultural Advisor to the Principal Chief
- Vince Feeling, CCO Community Outreach Coordinator
- Joseph Price, CCO Technical Assistance Specialist
- Brad Eubanks, CCO Technical Assistance Specialist
- Shawn Crittenden, Director of Gadugi Corps
“Although the task force membership itself is comprised of those working for Cherokee Nation in community organizing roles, I think some of the most important feedback will be from those who volunteer every day in community organizations,” said Deputy Secretary Duncan. “Part of our job will be to sit down with them and get frank and objective feedback as to what is going right, what might be off track, and how we can help make our efforts and theirs more impactful on the people and communities we serve.”
Cherokee Nation’s CCO department provides grants and training to designated CCO participating organizations. In addition to $35 million in new construction or community building remodels during the last five years, with several additional projects now in some phase of construction, the Hoskin-Warner administration has increased grant funding to the organizations.
In 2022, Cherokee Nation provided $1.6 million in one-time ‘community impact’ grants to CCO participating organizations nationwide to assist with COVID-19 pandemic recovery, such as food security and building organizational strength. Last year, Cherokee Nation launched over $2 million new ‘community wellness’ annual grants to CCO participating organizations nationwide to support increased access to physical and mental wellness activities and to remodel or expand community buildings for that purpose.
Among the Hoskin-Warner era grant programs are the ‘sustainable community’ grants for major capital projects benefiting on-reservation community organizations. A program of HJSCA, the current program will expend $6 million on community buildings over the next three years in addition to $36 million for housing programs, followed by successive three year cycles at the same level.
“I appreciate the hard work of the CCO staff and I am proud of all of the funding we have put into community organizations,” said Councilor Kendra McGeady, a sponsor of HJSCA. “Every district of the Cherokee Nation, including many examples in District 11, have seen the investment in the form of community buildings and a greater sense that we can improve our Cherokee community at the grass roots.”
Chief Hoskin signed the Executive Order Establishing a Task Force on Cherokee Community Organizing at a special celebration luncheon for CCO staff in Tahlequah, honoring the department for its hard work.
