Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana 2023

Little Shell Tribe Food Security & Food Sovereignty

The Little Shell Tribe will begin building a sustainable food system by implementing a program to provide healthy foods to members who experience food insecurity and have limited access to healthy foods. Funding will be used to hire a project coordinator to develop processes, procedures, and policies for the program while defining a sustainable strategy. The tribe currently has a storage facility and distribution center, and the coordinator will arrange food acquisition, delivery, and distribution. Partners include the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, the Great Falls Community Food Bank, USDA, Clause Law PLLC, the Little Shell Elder's Committee, Silver Wolf Enterprises, and other Little Shell Tribal Health programs. 

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

24 month

2023

Montana Homeownership Network 2023

Montana Native Homeownership Coalition and Montana Housing Conference

The Montana Native Homeownership Coalition will host its third in-person gathering in conjunction with the annual Montana Housing Conference. The coalition has 178 members and includes representation from seven tribes. Attending the conference will allow coalition members to connect with and learn from other housing stakeholders. The coalition gathering will be an opportunity for all members to build relationships with their peers, receive updates on projects in progress, learn about future work, and become more engaged. Grant funds will support travel and registration fees for 25 coalition members representing tribes and Native organizations.

Grant Amount

$29,250

Term

12 month

2023

People’s Partners for Community Development 2023

The People’s Garden – Empowering the Northern Cheyenne Community Through Sustainable Agriculture

People’s Partners for Community Development (PPCD) is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving the Northern Cheyenne reservation. PPCD provides a suite of financial services to serve reservation residents and run a mobile meat processing facility and grocery store. The People’s Garden aims to promote sustainable and healthy living among the members of the community by educating them on the resources for healthful eating that are available on their land and how to utilize these resources to improve their overall well-being. The project will establish a community garden in each of the five districts on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Through this effort, members of the community will learn and practice sustainable agriculture techniques. The goal is to provide access to fresh, locally grown produce for the community while promoting healthy eating habits and reducing the reliance on imported food items. PPCD will use this opportunity to expand fresh produce availability at Warrior Grocery and establish a farmer's market where the community can sell their produce, including any excess from the garden. The project is expected to be self-sustaining in the long run, with the revenue generated from the farmer's market and grocery store going towards maintaining the gardens and educating the community for generations to come. MHCF funds will be used to create a comprehensive program that develops garden space, provides access to healthy foods, and educates people about the importance of growing and consuming nutritional foods. PPCD will hire a Project Director and a Community Food Resource Coordinator to conduct the proposed activities. Project partners include the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and a local food pantry.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2023

Chippewa Cree Tribe 2022

Chippewa Cree Tribe Sustainable Food Systems Project

The Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy Montana, located in North Central Montana, will create a sustainable food system on the Rocky Boys Indian Reservation. Through this grant, the tribe will hire a consultant to map the landscape of food projects and food resources in the community and draft food code regulations. The Chippewa Cree Tribe will administer the project through a partnership with the Tribal and Food Sovereignty Coalition and the tribe's planning department leadership.

Grant Amount

$24,500

Term

12 month

2022

Four Bands Community Fund 2022

Regional Revolving Loan Fund

This Program-related Investment (PRI) will support the Mountain|Plains Regional Native CDFI Coalition to establish a Regional Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). Access to capital, a core tenant of the Indigenous finance industry, is the seed for growth strategies designed to lift struggling Native economies and close the racial wealth gap. This MHCF investment is part of the Foundation’s support for the Coalition’s successful application for $45 million in funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The project will strategically deploy financial investments into Native CDFIs in Montana, including Plenty Doors Community Development Corporation and NACDC Financial Services, Inc. The RLF will act as a vehicle of economic growth that drives business development and quality job creation. The project will amplify the capacity of coalition members not only by expanding their balance sheets and lending portfolios but also by unifying action and creating opportunities for peer-to-peer learning as they engage in more complex financial deployment strategies. Coalition members will collectively leverage partnerships and networks to attract additional investments, sustaining their work long-term. Replicable models and case studies will be developed and shared in collaboration with the Regional Indigenous Finance Industry Growth Plan and Non-Physical Infrastructure projects. The Regional Revolving Loan Fund will contribute to the other Montana CDFI's sustainability through earned interest revenue and access to additional loan capital.

Grant Amount

$800,000

Term

60 month

2022

Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana 2022

Little Shell Tribe Housing Needs Assessment

The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana will collect an accurate assessment of the housing needs and homeless situation of tribal members and develop a housing improvement plan. Because the Little Shell only recently gained federal recognition, there is relatively little specific data on the housing and health needs of enrolled members of the Tribe. To date the Tribe has relied mainly on anecdotal or derivative data to assess health status and assess the need for health and social services. This project will allow the tribe to gather quantitative and qualitative data through household surveys, focus groups, community meetings, and interviews with knowledgeable sources. Grant funds will contribute to the costs of the assessment and housing improvement plan. Expenses include consultant fees, travel expenses, household survey labor and mileage, survey equipment, outreach, and participation incentives. Project partners include Indian Health Service, Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council Tribal Epidemiology Center, and all municipalities in the four-county service area.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2022

NACDC Financial Services Inc. 2022

Four Bands Workforce & Professional Development

NACDC Financial Services, a community development financial institution (CDFI) located in Browning, will create the infrastructure to incubate businesses and train community members as part of the Mountain|Plains Native CDFI Coalition’s Native finance industry project. This project will address the health consequences of poverty, unemployment, and lack of economic opportunity by placing candidates in quality jobs in the region's Native economies. NACDC will design and implement a skills development program for Native CDFI staff, including a regional recruitment strategy and workforce training program, and will leverage partnerships to explore workforce wrap-around services. Funding will be used as sub-award grants to the other Montana-based Native CDFIs to pilot workforce and professional development innovation.

Grant Amount

$200,000

Term

36 month

2022

Northern Cheyenne Tribal Housing Authority 2022

Northern Cheyenne Healthy Housing Needs Assessment

The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Housing Authority will conduct an in-depth housing needs assessment for the Northern Cheyenne Nation. The assessment will focus on housing needs and incorporate health, education, employment, economic development, and social services related to housing. Funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Native American Program Training and Technical Assistance will support a consultant to conduct the assessment. Montana Healthcare Foundation funding will support the direct expenses incurred through local data collection activities, including field staff labor, equipment, mileage, and respondent incentives. Project partners include Northern Cheyenne Tribal Health, the Tribal Board of Health, and the Tribal Health Improvement Program.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2022

Plenty Doors Community Development Corporation 2022

Crow Nation Innovation Center

The Crow Nation Innovation Center will develop a facility to support community development for the Crow Reservation and surrounding area. Through this project, a signature space in the Crow community will be created to spur innovation and entrepreneurial development as well as local income and jobs. This grant will serve as a match for federal funding secured from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). Partners include The Steele Reese Foundation, First Interstate Bank Foundation, and the Northwest Area Foundation.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2022

Arlee Community Development Corporation 2021

Pivoting from Emergency Food Response to Food Sovereignty (FSC) Programming with Healthy Local Foods

The Arlee Community Development Corporation (CDC) sought to establish a walk-in, choice-based food pantry and resource center that provides access to more local nutritious food and food education to communities in the Jocko Valley. By collaborating with a range of partners, including Confederated Salish and Kootenai (CSKT) Tribal Health, CSKT Food Sovereignty Initiative, Mission Mountain Food Enterprise, and Montana Growers Cooperative, Arlee CDC was able to serve more hard-to-reach populations with a variety of food options, services, and educational programs. Patrons of the food pantry were educated about SNAP benefits and received assistance with SNAP applications. Arlee CDC accessed food from local growers and producers, provided meal kits to families, offered cooking and food preservation classes, educated about ancestral food preparation, and provided garden boxes to encourage families to grow their own food. Arlee CDC received a $15,000 grant from Hopa Mountain, got access to $15,000 - $20,000 in federal Emergency Food Assistance Program funding, and obtained other in-kind and financial donations from partners.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Center Pole 2021

Increasing Capacity and Food Quality to Create a Healthy Culturally Based Reservation Food System

Center Pole is a 23-year-old grassroots, Native-led organization on the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana. Its food security project aims to improve its capacity to procure, produce, store, and distribute healthy foods to people on the reservation and in the surrounding areas. Despite the challenges of decreased food supplies and higher food prices, Center Pole achieved several of its objectives. It completed improvements to its warehouse, expanded its mostly indigenous food network, received a wide variety of local food donations, and trained 42 community food interns in food safety, distribution, and preparation. Center Pole is working with community elders to learn about the edible wild plants in the area and how they can be used by local populations. It is also focusing on requesting healthier foods from its sources, including the Montana Food Bank Network.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Chippewa Cree Tribe 2021

Rocky Boy Food Sovereignty Project

Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation is in the remote Bear Paws mountains of North Central Montana. The remote location has contributed to a food desert on the Reservation, with the nearest grocery store selling fresh foods over 30 miles away. The Chippewa-Cree Tribe's Rocky Boy Food Sovereignty Project will develop a food chain of healthy products grown and produced on the Reservation. The project will help plant gardens, develop and market new value-added food products such as flour and pasta, and establish food handling laws. Locally grown and raised food products will be branded and made available to the community. Funding will help the purchase tools to support the food packaging and support a project coordinator who will develop and implement the program and build toward financial sustainability. Partners include the Stone Child College, the Rocky Boy Diabetes Program, Rocky Boy Public Schools, and the Chippewa Cree Agriculture and Sustainability Program team, which will serve as a board oversight for the project.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Day Eagle Hope Project 2021

Aaniiih/Nakoda Food Sovereignty on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation

The Day Eagle Hope Project, a Native nonprofit on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation that addresses health and wellness issues, used this grant to provide fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein to all four communities on the reservation and to demonstrate healthy living and cooking for every home. Partners included the Fort Belknap Tribe, Fort Belknap Public Health, Indian Health Service, and Aaniiih Nakoda College. The project identified American Indian farmers and ranchers from Fort Belknap and the Chippewa Cree Tribe to supply high-quality, ranch-raised beef—including Bear Paw Livestock Yards and Bear Paw Meats—and oversaw every stage of the process, from production to processing to distribution. The Fort Belknap Tribe donated eight buffalo for meat distribution on a yearly basis, and the Peoples Partners for Economic Development provided a mobile processing unit to come on site for the kill. The project partnered with the Turner Hutterite Colony to supply locally grown vegetables and sponsored a youth event where young people received education on healthy living and a large bag of fresh produce. This project will be sustained through tribal support, local support, and possibly USDA funding.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

FAST Blackfeet 2021

Sustaining Food Security with MNT Service Delivery

FAST Blackfeet used this grant to develop a sustainable method of funding for its Food Pharmacy Program (FPP), which provides medical nutrition therapy (MNT), group nutrition classes, fruit and vegetable vouchers, and specialized food pantry food boxes to participants who are referred by their health care provider for a nutrition-related chronic disease or food insecurity. The goal was to establish a method of third-party billing so FAST Blackfeet could receive reimbursement for its MNT services. FAST Blackfeet hired consultants to provide technical assistance to help create the new billing system and coordinate the effort with the Blackfeet Tribe, Blackfeet Tribal Health, Blackfeet THIP, and Montana Medicaid. The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council signed a contract, to be administered by Blackfeet Tribal Health, that allows the FAST registered dietitian to provide MNT to patients at the Southern Piegan Health Center (SPHC). Services will be billed at the tribe’s all-inclusive Medicaid reimbursement rate, and the revenue generated will be shared between SPHC, Centralized Billing, and FAST Blackfeet (15/5/80). Because MNT visits for adults 21 and older are not covered by Medicaid, the consultants submitted a proposal to Montana Medicaid to expand coverage to that age group. Medicaid has requested time to review the proposal before making a decision. The consultants also helped create systems for evaluating the FPP. While FAST Blackfeet has not yet seen any revenue from this project, the systems are in place to generate revenue. Additionally, as the community becomes more familiar with MNT services, there will be more opportunities for revenue through Medicaid billing.

Grant Amount

$19,250

Term

12 month

2021

FAST Blackfeet 2021

Working Toward a Healthy, Food Secure Blackfeet Nation

FAST (Food Access and Sustainability Team) Blackfeet used this grant to reduce food insecurity, increase food access, and improve nutrition intake and knowledge in the Blackfeet Nation. Due to the pandemic, the FAST Blackfeet O’yo’p’ Food Pantry saw a 3.6-fold increase in its participant numbers, requiring it to expand its operations to meet the demand. With the help of this grant, FAST Blackfeet was able to continue distributing food five days a week year-round, both in the food pantry in Browning and through its O’yo’p’ on Wheels Mobile Food Pantry, which serves eight outlying communities located within reservation boundaries. Under the direction of its new executive director, visitors to the pantry are now able to choose, handle, and load their own food, which has resulted in greater satisfaction among participants. FAST Blackfeet has strengthened its partnerships, including with the Montana Food Bank Network, which provides food, helps procure equipment, and assists in obtaining small and large grants. The Montana Food Bank Network helped FAST Blackfeet conduct its annual survey, which led to modifications in the pantry’s food offerings, delivery logistics, and public communications. FAST Blackfeet was able to resume its in-person nutrition workshops and dietician services, which are well-regarded within the community and help empower participants to make healthy food choices.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Messengers for Health 2021

Indigenous Evaluation and Dissemination of the Báa Nnilah Project

Messengers for Health works to improve the health of people living on the Crow Indian Reservation and outlying areas through community-based projects designed to empower communities to address their unique health issues. For this project, Messengers for Health will partner with two Tribal nations to adapt, implement, and evaluate a chronic disease self-management program – “Báa nnilah” – the grantee developed on the Crow reservation program. The evaluation will help the grantee and tribal partners adapt Báa nnilah for the specific needs of these Tribes, and it will help establish Báa nnilah as an evidence-based program, making it potentially reimbursable through the Tribal Health Improvement Program and providing sustainability for the project over the long term. Partners include Crow, Fort Belknap, and Rocky Boy Indian Reservations. Funding will support community members from the three communities to come together and develop the evaluation plan, support the adaptation of program manuals, and implement and evaluate the program in each community.

Grant Amount

$99,695

Term

24 month

2021

Peoples Partners For Community Development 2021

Northern Cheyenne Food Initiatives

People's Partner for Community Development (PPCD) is a Native-led nonprofit serving the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. It helps create a robust reservation economy while maintaining strong connections to the land, traditional values, and cultural history. This project will plan for the development of a small, state-inspected meat processing facility and mobile harvest unit to create a local healthy grass-fed beef food chain reasonably priced for the Northern Cheyenne community. PPCD will hire a consultant to develop a strategic business plan for securing this local food chain. Funding will support the consultant and the initial costs to hire a full-time meat processor. Project partners are HOPA Mountain, the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council, local school districts, and local grocers.

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

24 month

2021

Fort Peck Tribes Health Promotion Disease Prevention Program 2019

The 23rd IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion

The Fort Peck Health Promotion Disease Prevention Program staff participated in the 23rd UIHPE World Conference on Health Promotion in New Zealand, along with 70 other countries. At the conference, the staff gave a multi-media presentation and learned about indigenous food and fitness initiatives from around the world. When they returned, they shared what they learned with other tribes in Montana, Minnesota, and North Dakota. The staff who attended the conference are also continuing to use what they learned to inform the Healthy Foods Healthy Living Family Program (established as part of Fort Peck’s T-HIP program). This program is working to improve childhood nutrition and fitness and counter the community’s food deserts.

Grant Amount

$15,500

Term

12 month

2019

Messengers for Health 2019

Sustaining the Báa Nnilah Program for Improved Holistic Health For Apsáalooke People

Messengers for Health’s Báa nnilah program serves members of the Crow community who are living with chronic health concerns, using a cultural approach to provide health information and link people to health services. The goal of this capacity-building project was to explore ways to make the program more sustainable, including billing insurance companies and Medicaid for the services already being provided. After receiving approval and support from the Crow Legislative Branch, and with the help of consultants, volunteers, and staff, Messengers for Health was able to build capacity for the implementation of the Tribal Health Improvement Program (T-HIP). The organization established relationships with T-HIP staff working on six other reservations in Montana in order to gain insight, tools, resources, structure, and methods to effectively operate the program. It also enhanced its relationships with current partners, including Bighorn Valley Community Health Center, Montana Office of Rural Health, Montana Area Health Education Center, Montana State University-Bozeman, Crow Tribal Health, Little Big Horn College, and Crow Indian Health Service. While problems related to the pandemic prevented Messengers for Health from fully implementing the program, it will continue to pursue T-HIP implementation going forward.

Grant Amount

$14,857

Term

12 month

2019

Northern Cheyenne Tribal Board of Health 2019

T-HIP Planning and Implementation

This project helped the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Board of Health (NCTBH) plan for and implement Tier 1 of the Medicaid Tribal Health Improvement Program (T-HIP). T-HIP implementation coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which substantially impacted the project. The life expectancy for the people of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation is approximately 57 years for men and 61 years for women, nearly 20 years shorter than that of Caucasian Montanans. The overall goal of this project was to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases among this population and strengthen community action for improving the reservation’s overall health. Funds were used to hire a T-HIP director to oversee and implement Tier 1 over six months, as well as a medical director, but the medical director was not able to attend on site due to the pandemic. Funding also went towards the purchase of Daphne software, which is used to manage clients, document encounters, create care/action plans, schedule appointments, conduct assessments and surveys, and generate required T-HIP reports. One significant accomplishment was the hiring of four drivers to provide crucial transportation services for patients needing to get to the hospital in Billings. The project helped the Tribe conduct COVID-19 community surveillance testing that included 500 T-HIP clients. The T-HIP program is self-sustaining from Medicaid reimbursements, which will allow the program to continue building out Tier 1 implementation and to expand to Tier 2 and Tier 3 over the next couple of years.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2019