Four of the American Indian College Fund’s United Health Foundation Scholarship Program students traveled to Washington, D.C. June 21-23 to the United Health Diverse Scholars Forum on Innovations in Chronic Disease Care and Prevention. United Health Foundation supports the American Indian College Fund as a part of its Diverse Scholars Initiative. The Initiative’s purpose is to increase the number of qualified, yet underrepresented, college graduates entering the health workforce.
Prior to my internship, I had never been to Mesa Verde National Park. To make it worse, the two guys I brought to help me set up my camp were as unfamiliar with the area as I was. Some people at a gas station gave us directions that sent us in the complete opposite direction of the park, and we spent a good three hours in the wrong forest. To add to all of that, we were in a Dodge Caliber, which isn’t equipped for back-country driving.
The American Indian College Fund (the Fund) has received a challenge grant from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation (JSF). The JSF will match up to $750,000 over the next three years to establish a scholarship endowment which will provide scholarships to American Indian students pursing business or entrepreneurship degrees at mainstream and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs).
Graduation ceremonies were held all over Indian country the last several weeks. So many of our scholarship recipients have worked countless hours to receive that elusive document among Native people, the one that testifies to the completion of their course of study. In addition to the stress brought on by their rigorous curriculum, many have endured natural disasters in their communities and family tragedies. Yet, they found a way to emerge from it and stay their academic course.
Skano, everyone, and greetings from Mesa Verde National Park of Colorado. My name is Deanna and I believe some introductions and background information are in order. I was born and raised all over Southern California on various reservations but I am enrolled in the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York.
MetLife Foundation granted $15,000 this month to continue the MetLife Foundation Tribal College Scholarship Program. Now in its 11th year, this program provides scholarships to Native students attending tribal colleges and universities across the country.
The American Indian College Fund received a $100,000 grant from the Highland, California-based San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians. The grant will be divided to support several major initiatives: $50,000 will support the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians Tribal College Scholarship Program; $25,000 will go towards the Sovereign Nations Scholarship Fund Endowment, which provides scholarships to Native American students in perpetuity; and $25,000 will support expenses for the American Indian College Fund’s annual fundraiser, the Flame of Hope Gala, on Thursday, October 20, in Denver, Colorado.
Thank you for your outstanding response to our Emergency Flood Relief Campaign and for your dedication to our students in Indian Country. With record flooding still hovering at historic levels, the situation is far from over. But thanks to your support and the resilience and hard work of residents in the affected areas, our tribal communities are safe for now.
We still need your help. The flooding crisis is far from over and as the waters recede, they are leaving behind devastation to our students and staff. For others, it is wait and see if their efforts, literally, hold up the Missouri River.
The rain, plus heavy snowpack beginning to melt in the Rocky Mountains, has the Army Corps of Engineers increasing water releases through the six Missouri River dams to get rid of water as quickly as possible as flooding continues.
