Meeting the Basic Needs of the Navajo Nation During COVID-19

Coal Mine Canyon, Navajo Indian Reservation, about 15 miles southeast of Tuba City, Arizona Photo by John Fowler on Unsplash

Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter

Operation Restoring Veteran Hope CoFounder & President Mr. Ray Perez (Left) and Soror Yvonne Childress, Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter, Social Action Coordinator (Right).

The Navajo Nation is suffering one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates per capita in the United States. Residents are isolated and must often travel many miles to obtain basic items such as groceries and fuel. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter located in Surprise, AZ partnered with non-profit veteran organization, Operation Restoring Veteran Hope, to bring much needed supplies to the Navajo Nation. Mr. Ray Perez, Cofounder and President, requested Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter’s assistance.

Soror Yvonne Childress, Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter’s Social Action Coordinator and Soror Jaynene Smith, Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter’s Z-HOPE Committee Chair, organized chapter donation drives with Operation Restoring Veteran Hope to provide non-perishable goods, water, and hygiene items to assist the Navajo Nation during this crisis.

Soror Childress stated “Mr. Perez and I work together at the Phoenix Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center. He informed me his organization was organizing a donation drive for the Navajo Nation and requested our assistance. Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter was more than willing to assist. Our chapter has been able to establish a wonderful working relationship with Operation Restoring Veteran Hope.”

The first donation drive, organized in May 2020, was such a success, and the need for support was still so great, that Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter recommended that Arizona State identify the Navajo Nation as the focus of the sorority’s ZHOPE Centennial Global Day of Service in June 2020. Each time, Operation Restoring Veterans Hope provided the logistic coordination to transport the thousands of items onto Navajo Nation reservations where a quarantine was and currently remains to protect the Navajo people.

Mr. Perez further elaborated “As you all know this has been a difficult year that has impacted all of us in one way or another, especially those of the Navajo Nation.” Operation Restoring Veteran Hope and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter saw the need and collaborated to be of service to those struggling. We have since been blessed to help well over 500 struggling families in the Navajo Nation and we look forward to working together in the future as well.

In November 2020, Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter, again partnered with Operation Restoring Veteran Hope and the Veterans Administration Hospital – Phoenix, AZ. The chapter assisted 140 Navajo women military veterans by providing these women with various personal hygiene items.

“Our sorority has a long-standing reputation for assisting those in need, especially in this case, where our veterans and their families are impacted. Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter has been instrumental in providing much needed assistance to women veterans in the Navajo Nation during this pandemic,” said Soror Smith who also serves as the Arizona State and Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter Military Coordinator.

The chapter motto, ‘Dare to be Different’ definitely resonates with communities they serve. When the community calls, the Sorors of Chi Alpha Zeta Chapter, answer one and all!