Editor Designer Contributors
Mica Valdez, Media Program Director
Photography
Parke Ballantine, Video Production Manager Lina Blanco, Graphic Designer
featured Artist Cover Art: Beadwork
Lina Blanco, Graphic Designer Jackie Webster, Oneida Martin Waukazoo, Lakota Lillawa Willie, Pomo, Paiute Lina Blanco, ﾃ電ami Tepehuan, Xicana Mica Valdez, Mexica Parke Ballantine, European Lauren Baehner, Irish Patricia Leyva, Navajo, Choctaw, Cuban Tahnee Camacho, Otomi, Xicana
JACKIE WEBSTER works at 3124 and helps keep things running smoothly in the building. Sha has a cheerful face to people who come to NAHC.
J A Message from our CEO
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Medical Department Launches EHR! By: Lillawa Willie
On April 8th, the Pilot Medical Team went live on EHR at two of NAHC’s school-based health centers. Bonnie Trinclisti, Jayme Mejia, Topaz Persons, and Kristin McKean-Brown are now using EHR at Alameda, Island, and Encinal High Schools. The Pilot Medical Team has been extremely positive, team-oriented, and quick to pick up the new EHR workflow. They have helped to identify issues and come up with solutions, and have even submitted several upgrade requests to NextGen. The team is exceeding productivity expectations which are usually reduced after an EHR launch. Bonnie, Jayme, Topaz and Kristin are working quicker than anticipated in the new system, and taking a shorter amount of time to return to a full schedule of patients. This is great news as it reduces impact of the EHR launch on student access to services and increases our financial productivity. We would like to congratulate the Medical Pilot Team on their successful launch and thank them for all of their extra work in helping us to fine-tune the EHR flow for the upcoming Medical launches at main clinic sites. In addition to the school based staff, the Community Wellness Department launched another group on April 2nd. The first group of behavioral health providers at 3124 – Katherine Lewis, Shunkila Black Calf, Violet Lundberg, Kitty Budd, Nina Gutierrez, Virgil Moorehead, Robert Brown, Anna Albuquerque, and
Catherine Lively (SF) -- are also documenting patient visits in EHR. Congratulations to all of these staff for successfully completing training and moving forward in the new system. The EHR Project Management Team would also like to acknowledge and thank the IT Department as well as the EHR Trainers (David Samlan, Chir Patel, Maggie Wong, Aarati Sawhney) for their hard work and long hours spent supporting the staff during training and launch.
Up next!: J Behavioral Health Team 2 at 3124 on launches on May 7th J School Based Team 2 launches on May 21st J Capp St Behavioral Health launches June 4th J 7D Medical Team1 launches on July, 9th J 7D Medical Team 2 launches on August 5th J SF Medical launches on September 3rd
LILLAWA WILLIE is the EHR Project Assistant who helps manage the EHR rollout, and coordinates the Meaningful Use Program at NAHC. 2
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Y A rancisco W F n a S R U O n Trails , a b r dia on a S e U M s E h C t n H C I O eral mo ation with NA participated V v e s t s R a U anco Over the wp orking in collabaocrh project. Youthdesign slogans O to en tre J Bl By: Lina
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has be atizing groups arts ou m s c g i u i l t c b s o e u f d p c a and uth. ngs and i o m n y dynami u i a s a r r u t t o l s n a l art dige oric in digita ly address hist lf-identified In ect es for se c i v that dir r e s health mental
This campaign was developed through a series of community photohoots, Photoshop design workshops, focus groups and creative brainstorming sessions, and committees of youth and families who gave input on the designs. Many thanks to Paloma Flores, Crystal Marich, Tommy Orange, April McGill, Lauren Baehner, Catherine McLively, Serena Wright, Esther Lucero, and Angie Tsosie and all our community partners. Funded by SAMHSA.
LINA BLANCO is the Graphic Designer at the Native American Health Center and photographer, social marketer for this campaign. 5
Basketball, Motivation, and The Making of Relatives: Native American Athlete Martin Waukazoo Inducted to the 4th Annual South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame By: Mica Valdez
The first word that comes to mind when I think of Martin Waukazoo is “respect.” Raised in Rapid City, South Dakota Waukazoo, 63, is Lakota and remembers a difficult time when there was more intense racism and segregation than there is today. Reflecting back on his childhood he says, “Our family lived in a trailer behind the Mother Butler Center and I was only fifteen, twenty feet from the gymnasium. So every morning I would be in the gymnasium and the priest there Father Collins would give me a basketball and have me shoot baskets when I was a little guy. Every morning he would, I would play basketball. Years later I would ask my parents why did we live in a trailer and why did we live behind the Mother Butler Center (when there were trailer courts here and trailer courts there that had all the hook ups and everything that you needed)? My parents told me that Indians weren’t allowed in the trailer courts within the city and we had no place to park our trailer and the only place we could park it was behind the Mother Butler Center. So that negative and the prejudice and discrimination that took place actually benefited me because I don’t know if I would have been that involved in basketball…growing up and walking around the streets of Rapid City I can still recall…6, 7, 8 years old as a young boy seeing signs in the doorway ‘No Indians or Dogs Allowed.’” Later reflecting on his high school experience the climate toward Native Americans was not much better, sharing a story playing a game for a large-scale audience he says,
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“At the state tournament in ‘67 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota I think the arena held 8 or ten thousand people and it was packed for the state tournament and I had an outstanding game. I did very well at the first game at the tournament and there…the crowd rather than saying I did a good job, they booed me and there were all kinds of negative words that were said. I was seventeen years old. They would call you ‘prairie nigger,’ ‘dog eater’ and this again was in the sixties and I think that kind of fueled me. Thinking back on it, I saw it as something although negative, something that motivated me.”
This struggle is but one thread of the story. This story is about celebrating the athleticism and talent of an amazing basketball player from the state of South Dakota. The fact that Waukazoo in the face of adversity overcame tremendous obstacles and persevered in reaching his goals academically and in particular through his love of basketball, is what is most inspiring. His former coach, David Strain of the Cobblers describes Waukazoo as his greatest player in his 28 years of coaching. Strain says,
“He brought to his high school and college basketball careers not just his amazing athletic achievement, but also the values of his parents and the Lakota Sioux culture. The values of sharing, generosity and courage.” On Saturday, March 23 the basketball community of about 400 people came together at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse in Madison, South Dakota to recognize Waukazoo and some of the state’s greatest contributors to the sport. It is a ceremony that San Francisco Bay Area’s Martin Waukazoo will remember for many years to come. As one of the newest members of the crop, Waukazoo was one of 16 athletes honored at the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall to scratch off the color. I didn’t want to be Indian and of Fame. that’s damaging. It takes years of recovery. Former Rapid City High School standout, Waukazoo was a First Team All-State selection in 1967 when the Cobblers finished as the state runner-up to Milbank. He was selected All-State Most Valuable Player and during that time also happened to be one of the first American Indians to be named to the All American Team, a top selection of a hundred players from throughout the country. The 15 others to join the hall this year were Mitchell’s Mike Miller, Aberdeen’s Scott Bosanko, Brookings’ Amy Mickelson Brecht, Doland’s Chris Divich, Winner’s Carol (Freeman) Brecht, Webster’s Clyde Hagen, Hayti’s Garney Henley, Onida’s Kent Hyde, Belle Fourche’s Gerald Lund, Yankton’s Chad Nelson, Castlewood’s Renee Reusink, Mobridge’s Jim Schlekeway, and Mitchell’s Wayne Stone and Warner’s Chuck Welke, Jr. Athlete and graduate of Black Hills State University, Waukazoo now enjoys life with his wife in San Leandro with his three children and grandchildren nearby. He is a cultural advisor and elder in the community health care movement, currently leading the Native American Health Center as the Chief Executive Officer. When asked what message he would give to the Native youth, Waukazoo said, “The youth are the future. We expect and will do our part to make sure that they are proud of who they are and I think that is so terribly important that they know who they are, where they come from and being proud of who they are. Growing up in the late fifties and early sixties as a young man, I remember walking down the street and looking at my hand and wanting
Being proud of who they are and where they come from and learning from the older, positive role models around you and be proud of who you are and taking responsibility for your future and dreaming about the dreams, and never giving up, never giving up, never looking back, looking forward and face those difficulties head on like a warrior. A warrior is not being ‘macho’ and strong, a warrior is taking responsibility and the reflection of your spirituality is how you treat other people. Every day you should be getting up and thinking about making a relative. Finding someone who you can make a relative of. The worst thing that can be said of you, as an American Indian, is that you act as if you have no relatives. When you have relatives, you know you’re going to get the support, you know you’re going to get the encouragement and you’re going to have them wrap their arms around you in difficult times. Making of relatives, that’s what (Richard) Movescamp teaches us. Then, when you become an ‘uncle’ to someone or you become a ‘grandpa’ to someone, or you become a ‘brother’ to someone, then you’re obligated to help that person. There’s a relation and we all are related…I’m very honored and blessed when a young man greets me with uncle or grandpa. ”
MICA VALDEZ is a contributing writer and editor for My Medicine and the Media Program Director at the Native American Health Center. 7
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Ripple Effect Manhood Ceremony The By: Parke Ballantine
Martha Martinez, NAHC’s Cultural Facilitator, picked me up at 5:30am every morning and we would drive through winding roads, foggy skies, and have thoughtful conversations until we reached the ceremony grounds in Sebastopol. I had no idea what to expect. We had talked about the logistics, who to be in contact with, my role and ceremony protocol; I had interviewed three of the four young men who were preparing for the ceremony, but I still felt a sense of mystery. I was nervous about my role and concious of being a white woman in a Native ceremony and the need for humility and respect. I felt timid to be an outsider at such an intimate and historical ceremony.
peers, it was incredible. Every morning I looked forward to sitting at the table or standing at the kitchen island helping to cook and clean, listening and feeling that nurturing and loving steadfast energy all around me. I had conversations with the helpers, drummers, and mentors. One of the mentors, Leon Chief Elk, spoke of Sundance ceremony and the four days.
Every morning I found myself in the warmest picturesque kitchen. Open, with vibrant colors, mouth watering scents, and women buzzing around chopping, slicing, cooking, laughing, chatting—the kitchen was the women’s arena. I had always heard of women’s spaces like this; cooking in the kitchen, sharing stories, finding healing, connection, and warmth in the hands of elders and
A quarter of the time is the best feeling ever— never have you been closer to creator/god, felt so connected, alive, vibrant. Another quarter of the time is the worst—you can feel every breath and heart beat, you haven’t eaten in days, and you struggle to quiet the mind. The other half of the time is middle of the road—prayer, breathing, staying constant. “Like is like that,” a quarter of the time will be amazing, a quarter of the time will be challenging, and the rest is practicing how to walk steady. What he said is that ceremony helps teach us how to move through those changes. It helps us remember how to gather strength for the hard times, and be grateful for the good times. I have struggled with spirituality throughout my life. As a child I was brought up very right wing conservative Christian until my family split. I had already experienced some traumas in my life, but it was at this point that many things shifted and I
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found myself in the midst of daily complex trauma, and as a result turned away from spirituality seeing it as false hope. I experienced a spiritual connection again seven years later, and it had a profound impact on me, yet I have still kept spirituality (in all its largeness) mostly absent from my life. Working at the Native American Health Center has given me the opportunity to revisit this connection and being a part of this ceremony has helped take me further. I found a deeper connection, time to sit with myself, and share in collective healing. This ceremony connected me to the many sorrows, feelings of disconnection and loneliness, and traumas that not only I as an individual have experienced but also that many others have as well. On the fourth day, at the Welcoming Ceremony held at IFH, it was apparent how the work these men, their supporters, and mentors did, is bringing healing to the community. Richard Moves Camp spoke of this healing as a ripple ef-
fect; each individual’s healing creates a ripple effect through the community, effecting each of their relationships and interactions for generations to come. I know that being a part of this ceremony has had an impact on me. I can feel it and see it. I don’t know how, at what moment, or what the words were. All I know is that in going through it all, I came out more connected, stronger, and inspired. PARKE BALLANTINE is the Video Production Manager at the Native American Health Center. She is a filmmaker and producer with an emphasis on supporting, creating, and promoting socially just and community based media.
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Empowerment Evaluation of Urban Trails SF
By: Lauren Baehner
Urban Trails San Francisco (UTSF) is a holistic System of Care that serves Indigenous youth ages 0-21. As the evaluator for the grant, I work closely with other program staff to measure progress on outcomes and goals. Because we serve such a diverse Native community, often times, the traditional Western evaluation approaches don’t quite fit, so to be truly culturally appropriate, we tailor our methods specifically to this community. The best way to do that is to involve youth and families in all aspects of our local evaluation efforts. Our community has identified their strengths and needs, and the outcomes and goals they care most about, and we have involved youth and families in designing projects that measure two of those outcomes: (1) Increased self-esteem and positive Native/Indigenous identity (2) Decreased stigma and discrimination at the system level.
How do you get youth and families interested in evaluation? I started by researching how to involve youth as equal partners in organizational evaluation, not just participants. We chose to use Empowerment Evaluation, which is a shift towards a more inclusive approach, where the evaluator is a facilitator who works with and acknowledges the community as the expert and helps gather information that the community can use to advocate for their own needs. The single most important step to involve youth and families was to reach out to staff that already had existing relationships with the community; our youth coordinators and key family contact, which has been integral to our efforts. Within Congress and the national government, there’s not a lot known about urban Native communities, and so evaluation is not just something we have to do, it’s a chance for our community to share their stories and show Congress what makes them strong, what issues they are faced with, and why services at NAHC work and are so necessary. 10
Last August, Amanda WhiteCrane joined our evaluation team as an Evaluation Specialist, Peer Support Intern. She is a parent and has utilized our services since before the beginning of the UTSF grant. We collaborate on evaluation projects and she has continued take on more responsibilities such as presenting at meetings and co-facilitating the Evaluation Advisory Board, where we design projects to measure community-defined outcomes. She says, “The peer internship has allowed me to feel an added ownership of the program. I feel like I’ve been involved since day one of the six year grant. First as a community member on the advisory board and now as a peer. It helps me connect my personal, family and career goals… It has really opened my eyes to how the program is running, the funding it depends on, and how important evaluation is for the future.” Her contributions have proved invaluable to the success of our evaluation advisory board and projects, as she is able to make evaluation accessible and relevant for families. We have had consistent participation from youth and caregivers and decided to rename ourselves the IllumiNatives, an insightful name that came directly from the youth! The IllumiNatives have developed two projects to measure Native/Indigenous identity: (1) a survey that will be given out at cultural events that asks how attendance impacts a person’s Native/Indigenous identity and pride, and (2) a youth video project that will ask about what makes youth feel proud to be Native/Indigenous. We will be using the survey at all our NAHC sites this summer and hope to showcase the video project at the upcoming National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day in May.
LAUREN BAEHNER is the evaluator for our Urban Trails San Francisco project, which is a holistic System of Care for Native and Indigenous youth and their families in SF.
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Shares HR Buzz Lucky By: Patricia Leyva
S H A R E S
We are thrilled to introduce our brand new program that will give back to our organization by using the Lucky’s S.H.A.R.E.S. card! S.H.A.R.E.S. stands for Supporting Humanities, Arts, Recreation, Education & Sports in our community. The S.H.A.R.E.S. card program is an easy and efficient way to fund-raise! Each swipe of the S.H.A.R.E.S. card earns us up to 3% of qualified purchases for our organization. For example, if you spend $150 dollars for groceries at one of the locations, Lucky SHARES will donate to us $4.50 (3%). You will be able to use the card at the following locations: • SaveMart-Supermarkets • Smart Foods • FoodMaxx • Lucky’s stores You can pick up your SHARES card from each of our site Administrators: • Michelle Shawnego or Pat Want in Alameda • Dawn Luala-Claxton at 7 Directions • Amadene Castillo at 3124 Oakland • Cherie Jalipa-Shirley for our SF sites.
We encourage all to participate and use the card any time you go to the grocery store! Every purchase helps. We would like to give a huge Thank you to Essie Tuttle and Michelle Shawnego for giving us this opportunity! HAPPY SHOPPING! For more details please see the website: http://www.luckysupermarketsshares.com 11
J Employee Anniversaries! April Anniversaries Virgil Moorehead (CWD) Christopher Alexander (Medical) Julia Echeverria (7D Admin) Tamar Kurlaender (SBHC) Josephine Ng (Dental) Amelia Snow (Oak Medical) Lillawa Willie (Admin) Tahnee Camacho (Oak CWD) Nazbah Tom (SF COH) Dallas Wahpepah (Oak CWD) Sandra Tavel (Admin) Nayche Bradford (SF Dental) Carla Carroll (Billing) Marla Preston (Billing) Ruel De La Rosa (IT) Francisco Zamora (Fiscal) Cathy Marin-Wisdom (Admin) Amanda Bloom (Oak Medical)
1 year 2 years 2 years 2 years 2 years 2 years 3 years 6 years 6 years 6 years 7 years 9 years 12 years 12 years 14 years 15 years 18 years 24 years May Anniversaries Anna Albuquerque (Oak CWD) Aisha Mays (Medical) Ricky Santana (SF CWD) Anola Small (Billing) Francisco Valadez (Dental) Alexis McBride (Dental) Lina Blanco (Media) Shayla Melton (Dental) Rene Gonzalez (CWD) Esther Lucero (CWD) Phyllis Waukazoo (CWD) Jon Williamson (Dental) Shirley Begay (CWD) Charlene Harrison (Admin) Rita Prado (Dental) Bhrett Lash (Medical) Serena Wright (CWD) Bertha Diaz (Dental) Jerri Davis (Fiscal) Martin Waukazoo (CEO)
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1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year 2 years 2 years 3 years 3 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 6 years 6 years 7 years 26 years 30 years
J Ne w Hires Terrance Bryant Medical Chart Abstractor II Medical, 7D
Martha Loza Medical Assistant I Medical, 7D
Mica Valdez Media Program Director CWD, 3124
Patricia Becker On-Call Medical Assistant Medical, 7D Rebecca Robles On-Call Medical Assistant Medical, 7D
Eyling Colmer On-Call Medical Assistant Medical, SF Capp Street
Andrea Rodriguez Program Assistant CWD, SF Capp Street 13
J Tribal Athletics
By: Tahnee Camacho
Youth Services Tribal Athletics basketball component began in 1998, after many years of success with the Grasshoppers Soccer teams. Through our basketball programs we have given Indigenous youth a fun, healthy way to stay physically active. In 2008, we were recognized by the Surgeon General for reducing rates of diabetes and heart disease in the Native community.
We have served hundreds of youth throughout the year, and had two generations of Tribal Athletics program (TAP) participants play. Youth who have now become parents have enrolled their children into our program and it is becoming a family tradition to be a TAP basketball player. Our teams start as young as 3.5 years old to high school ages.
For more information please contact Oakland Youth Services at (510) 434-5330 14
Youth Development Fellowship Program
What is the Fellowship? The Youth Development Fellowship Program is a 9-week stipend summer program for Indigenous high school students to prepare them for college or the workforce after high school. Throughout the course of the Program, we will spend most of our time in workshops discussing topics related to Indigenous issues. Every summer a central theme or project is created. Past projects have included a documentary film on the needs for low-income housing in Oakland, murals, presentations to younger youth, and various other community service projects. The course is designed to open the minds of our youth, and educate them on concepts that many schools do not provide. During the term of the course we will visit colleges and universities throughout the Bay Area and provide workshops about the admissions process and scholarships. Youth Fellows are required to choose a community service project that will benefit their communities and conduct workshops for youth.
Program runs June 18th– August 16th Tuesdays– Fridays. Youth must be able to commit to ALL 9 weeks. For more information or to apply contact: Tahnee Camacho, Program Manager at Oakland Youth Services: (510) 434-5338
Deadline: Friday May 17, 2013 by 5:00pm
"When you are creating , that is when you are closest to Creator.� For future submissions to My Medicine contact Editor, Mica Valdez at: micav@nativehealth.org www.nativehealth.org facebook.com/NAHC.Inc youtube.com/NAHCtv