|
Leigh Ann McGee, legislative office, office of the principal Chief, directed the organization of the Cherokee FIRST initiative. The community coordination portion of Cherokee FIRST serves to help communities help themselves.
"We can strengthen communities by building capacity," McGee said. "Communities know their needs. We can help them find solutions."
If the FY 2001 budget is passed by the tribal council, six coordinators will work directly with the Cherokee communities. Presently, Evelyn Conley, assistant to Deputy Principal Chief Hastings Shade, serves as community coordinator.
"We will take a Cherokee community with a need and help it establish a program that fits that need," Conley said.
The process begins with members of a community coming to her with a need such as establishing a donation house, Conley said. If she sees the need, interest from community members and a progressive effort, then she will establish contacts to help the effort get off the ground.
"We start from a core," she said. "We help them build programs that help them from the bottom up."
Conley recently helped a group in Marble City, Okla., create a family resource center.
"My purpose was to try to find resources for people," Conley said. "Then, Cherokees can make things happen in their own community."
No matter what program is used in Cherokee FIRST, more and more customers are leaving the tribal complex with a better feeling about the tribe than in the past. They feel better served, more appreciated and a little higher on the priority list.
"I think a lot of people go away feeling like they gained something by coming here," Mouse said. "They used to come in, get a negative response and they go away knowing they have to come back. But now it's a family atmosphere when they come, and it's good that someone at least acknowledges them and it makes them feel a part of the Cherokee Nation."
|