NATIVE AMERICAN CONNECTIONS.PDF

NATIVE AMERICAN CONNECTIONS
VIA CERTIFIED MAIL
June 13, 2019 JWt
BY:..
Chairman Edward D. Manuel
Tohono O'odham Nation
1661 N. Swan, Suite 116
Tucson, AZ 85712
ATTN: Matt Smith
Dear Chairman Manuel and Mr. Smith:
On behalf of Native American Connections, I am pleased to present our proposal to the 12%
Gaming Distribution of the Tohono O'odham Nation for funding support (operations,
programming) of the Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this proposal.
Sincerely,
Margot Cordova
Grants Manager
enclosures
"Changing Lives... Building Healthy Communities"
4520 N. Central Avenue, Suite 600 Phoenix, Arizona 85012 (p) 602.254.3247 (f) 602.256.7356 www.nativeconnections.org

Proposal in Support of the
Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center
NATIVE AMERICAN CONNECTIONS
a) Perceived Need
Native American Connection's mission is "Improving the lives of individuals and families through
Native American culturally appropriate behavioral health, affordable housing and community
development services. Since 1972 Native American Connections (NAC) has been improving community
health/wellness and increasing housing stability for individuals, children/youth, and families. NAC owns
and operates 20 sites in Phoenix offering and providing access to integrated healthcare, affordable and
supportive housing (over 700 units/beds) and community development services to over 10,000
individuals and families each year. NAC is an Urban Indian Organization as defined at 25 U.S.0 §
1603(29) and has service contracts with two Indian Health Service (IHS) services areas: Phoenix Area
(42 tribes) and Albuquerque (22 tribes), as well as 10 direct tribal contracts serving tribal communities
in the Southwest and other regions.
NAC also champions projects that strengthen the Native American community and celebrate its rich
cultural history such as the Native American Community Service Center (2007), co-owned/operated by
NAC and Phoenix Indian Center, and the Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center, now operating
successfully in a renovated elementary school and music building located on the site of the former
Phoenix Indian School in Steele Indian School Park. The main purpose of the Phoenix Indian School
Visitor Center (PISVC) is to tell the untold story of the Phoenix Indian School and its alumni and to
show how this story relates to the larger history of American Indian Boarding Schools and Indian
History in the Southwest and nationally. NAC and its main community partners (Phoenix Indian Center,
Heard Museum, Heard Museum, City of Phoenix) aim to engage Native American and non-Native
audiences to share this important story more widely among Arizonans and other visitors coming from
throughout the United States and the world. The Phoenix Indian School and its three remaining historic
buildings are a statewide tribal treasure; the renovation of the elementary school/music building and its
reopening as the Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center remains an important cause for celebration and
commemoration.
Two primary community needs addressed by the PISVC project include providing: (1) community
education opportunities to a wide audience (Native, non-Native) about Indian Boarding Schools and
other related arts/cultural and social history, and (2) opportunities to improve health/wellness and
community economic development opportunities for the region's urban Native community members
(Maricopa County, Pinal County).
Since the grand opening of the PISVC in October 2017, NAC has been working with the City of
Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, Phoenix Indian Center, Heard Museum, Arizona State
University (ASU) and many other community partners to (1) bring an array of arts/cultural, education,
health/wellness and nutrition, and community economic development programming to the PISVC to
benefit the urban Native American community of over 100,000 in Greater Phoenix, and (2) educate the
community at large about the history of Indian Boarding Schools more widely and the Phoenix Indian
School more specifically. The event highlighted and "kicked off' all the types of activities now
occurring at the PISVC, such as promoting arts/cultural events, education (e.g. K-12 teachers'
professional development); K-12 education (field trips); nutrition education, healthy living and
local/indigenous foods, and community economic development. NAC estimates that 1,000 persons

attended the celebration and around 500 (50%) sampled indigenous foods prepared for the grant opening
event by Chef Nephi Craig (Apache/Navajo) and his culinary team. Chef Craig also delivered a short
presentation at the celebration about the types of indigenous foods available and their health benefits.
The grand opening also provided an opportunity to promote the availability of the commercial kitchen at
the PISVC as a permanent place to cook indigenous and healthy foods — definitively creating a new
community resource.
b) Description of Population who will Benefit
NAC has experienced at least 5,000 individuals -- including hundreds of K-12 students--coming to the
PISVC to see its gallery and/or rent the facility in its first year of operations. NAC expects to
reach/exceed this same figure for visits/attendees in the FYI9 (7/1/18-6/30/19). In November 2017, just
one month after opening, the PISVC hosted 12 events/meetings for a variety of nonprofit, public, tribal,
and private sector organizations including: Intertribal Council of Arizona, Gathering of Native
Americans, Heard Museum (Mellon Fellows), ASU's Center for Race and Democracy, YWCA, APS's
Native American employee group. Subsequent months have included: movie night showing "Rumble:
The Indians Who Rocked the World"; school field trips by K-12 student groups from throughout
Arizona, Native American student graduation celebrations and family celebrations, etc. NAC is on track
to host/co-host over 90 events at PISVC annually; room rentals are averaging 8/month, including regular
use by Bank of America's Community Relations/Development group, and the Phoenix Indian Medical
Center for professional development purposes. Program highlights from the past two years which fall
within the education, health/wellness, economic/community development are described below:
• Education (K-12; Post-Secondary; Health/Wellness/Nutrition): The Heard Museum has hosted two
Teachers' Institutes to deliver state-approved curricula professional development efforts for K-12
teachers, one of which featured chef Maria Parra Cano ("Indigenous Mama") use of commercial
kitchen to prepare an indigenous meal for attendees; Tohono O'odham language classes (Fall 2018).
• Education (Arts/Culture, Social Histo,y): Gallery curation and development continues, Native
American artist Randy Kemp has been contracted to complete a mural/tapestry in Event Room;
WWI armistice 100 year commemoration event was held to honor Phoenix Indian School WWI
veterans, in partnership with City of Phoenix and Arizona Territorial Band.
• Community Economic Development (Food Businesses/Kitchen rentals): The project secured the
services of a kitchen consultant and completed all rental pricing fees/structure, agreements, policies
(Feb-Marl 8). All health inspections passed with "A" grades. One-time use rentals started
immediately with inaugural event/use by James Beard award winner "Sioux Chef' Sean Sherman
(organized by Partnership for Native Americans). First ongoing kitchen renter ("Sana Sana"-Maria
Cano, chef/business owner) started Oct-18; partnerships with Native food trucks/catering businesses
(Emerson, Firethunder); meetings with ASU's "Prepped" (early-stage food incubator program).
c) Budget & Request for Funding
Native American Connections requests $25,000 from the Tohono O'odham Nation's Proposition 202-
12% grant program (2019) to support the Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center. Since its opening in
October 2017, NAC and its community partners have worked with many organizations to promote its
use as a unique venue and means for bringing an array of arts, cultural, education, health/wellness and
nutrition, and community economic development programs to Arizona. The Tohono O'odham Nation's
state shared revenue funding would be used to support the ongoing and successful growth of
education, health/wellness, tourism, and community economic development programs/activities
occurring at the Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center.
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d) Other Requests for Funding
NAC currently has pending requests for the PISVC with the two government/tribal funding sources:
• Government/Tribal: ANA (SEDS) for up to three years ($100K annually), which is extremely
competitive on a national level; Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation ($25,000).
NAC also intends to submit grant requests to the following funding sources in the near-term: AkChin
Indian Community, APS, SRP, other corporate/foundation sources TBD.
e) Previous 12% Support
NAC has secured program and capital funding support from a variety of government/tribal, foundation,
and corporate funding sources during the past two fiscal years (FY18, FY19) including:
• Government/Tribal: HUD Section 4 (via LISC Phoenix)-$40,000, Tohono O'odham Nation-$50,000
• Foundations: Arizona Community Foundation (Common Good Fund)- $50,000; ACF-Lost Lake
Festival proceeds- $8,000 (one-time donation)
• Corporate: Arizona Public Service-$50,000; SRP-$25,000
Since 2008, NAC has received $1.175 million total in 12% payments from four tribal communities to
benefit the following five projects/programs: Native American Community Service Center (NACSC)
located in mid-town Phoenix; Patina Wellness Center (opened in 2016); Phoenix Indian School Visitor
Center (opened 2017); Homebase Youth Services and other Homelessness support services. NAC has
received one 12% distribution from the Tohono O'odham Nation for the PISVC (2017).
Year Amount Tribal Communities Project/Program
2008- Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation, Gila Native American Community Service
2009 $500,000 total River Indian Community (GRIC), Center (Capital).
SRPMIC, Tohono O'odham Nation
$500,000 GRIC
2015 $25,000 SRPMIC Patina Wellness Center (Capital)
2016 $25,000 SRPMIC
2017 $50,000 Tohono O'odham Nation PISVC (Capital, Operations)
2017 $50,000 GRIC Homebase Youth Services
2018 $25,000 SRPMIC Homeless/Resident Support Services
f) Contact Person.
Margot Cordova, Grants Manager; m.cordova@nativeconnections.org ; 602-254-3247;
4520 Central Avenue, Ste. 600, Phoenix AZ 85012; 602-256-7356
g) Priority Area(s)
The proposed Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center project aligns primarily with the Tohono O'odham
Nation's Education priority area.
h) Governmental Agent: Maricopa County
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Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center Budget
FY20
Revenue
Earned Income/Rental Fees 25,000
Government/Tribal Nations $_ 50,000
Foundation Grants 30,000
ICorporate _ Grants 30,000
Donations 10,000
Other 8,000
Total $ 153,000
L.
Expenses
Operations/Curator _r. $ 60,-000
II•I• •••I• •I• II
Operations Assistant $ 18,000
Gallery Improvements $ 7,500
Janitorial/Maintenance $ 13,000
Insurance $ 3,700
[Bank Fees (Pay Pal) 700
Phone/IT Support $ 4,100
Supplies (Office, Program) $ 3,000
Marketing/Promotion/Website $ 2,100
Memberships/Traini ngs $ 1,000
Utilities $ 2,400
Direct Costs $ 115,500
Indirect/Admin $ 37,500
Total $ 153,000
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