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Northwest Area Foundation Awards Grant to the Native American Development Corporation, Billings, MT to Build Organization’s Ability to Fight Poverty, Build Coalitions
One of two grants announced today
Fr: Susan Buckles, APR Leonard Smith
651-225-3865 406-259-3804
sbuckles@nwaf.org lsmith@wtp.net
St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 10, 2007 – Today, the Northwest Area Foundation announced the award of a one-year grant to the Native American Development Corporation, Billings, Montana. It is one of two grants announced today to help build capacity and programs to reduce poverty among urban American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN). The other grant was made to the Native American Youth & Family Center, Portland, Oregon.
“We need to build the partnerships and the initiatives that will create lasting poverty reduction among the urban Indian people of Billings, Montana,” said Leonard Smith, executive director of the Native American Development Corporation (NADC). “Persistent poverty is fed by the many broken systems and negative expectations in our society,” said Smith. “This grant gives us the opportunity to develop integrated solutions to reduce poverty and create new pathways to lasting prosperity.”
“We believe, and experience is demonstrating, that poverty reduction initiatives have greater chance of success if communities assume leadership in addressing poverty and intentionally develop the capacity to do so,” said Kari Schlachtenhaufen, Interim President and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF). “We are excited to make this grant and hope other funders and partners will join in this effort to build local capacity to reduce poverty long term.”
NADC will apply its one-year, $350,000 grant to build the organization’s capacity to do work, build relationships, and support the development of and sustainability of a local Native-owned enterprise promoting work-force and micro-enterprise development.
“Many foundations, our own included, search for initiatives that will bring deep and lasting benefit to families and communities,” said Gary Cunningham, NWAF Vice President for Programs and Chief Program Officer. “We also look for communities and organizations that bring experience, innovation, and systemic thinking to their efforts. We appreciate both the lessons we’ve learned in this grant-development process and the opportunity to support NADC in work that sets important foundations for lasting poverty reduction,” he said.
The Native American Development Corporation was established in 1996 to: assist in the creation and operation of reservation based Community Development Corporations, empowering communities towards economic and social stability; create and administer loan funds to finance Indian entrepreneurs and build the economic infrastructure on reservations: provide technical and resource assistance to Indian owned businesses; act as a liaison for state, regional, national and international economic development organizations and agencies to Indian owned businesses in Montana and Wyoming; and provide educational information for tribal governments in economic development and technology.
The Northwest Area Foundation realizes its mission – helping communities reduce poverty – by supporting strategic efforts within a small number of urban, rural and American Indian communities in: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. These states were serviced by James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railway. Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill, established the foundation in 1934. Since 1999, the Foundation has invested approximately $193 million in community-based poverty reduction programs, and expects to invest an estimated additional $75 million within the next two years. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests. For more information: www.nwaf.org, or 651-224-9635.
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