They are also excited
to announce their
Diabetes Prevention
Program, Native
Wisdom: Live in
Balance, and will be
hosting an informal
meet and greet,
with giveaways on
December 6th, 2018.
Native Wisdom:
Live in Balance is
a program for our
community to avoid
the onset of diabetes
and to live healthier.
Participants learn
about eating healthy,
being physically
active and managing
stress while attending
weekly classes for 16
weeks, followed by
monthly sessions to
help maintain weight
loss and healthy
lifestyles.
Dona James and
Joe Renteria
The Youth Center
The Youth Center is
another of SDAIHC’s
important community
programs. The Youth
Center’s mission
is to guide Native
American and all
community youth
towards their full
potential as healthy,
well-rounded young
adults through the
use of cultural, traditional, and non-Western modes of healing and
education. The program welcomes young people ages 10 to 24
of any background and offers a wide-range of programs. SDAIHC
encourages youth to stay physically and mentally active while
exploring creativity in a positive, inclusive, and safe environment
where they can develop a healthy self-identity. The San Diego
American Indian Youth Center is a project funded by the County of
San Diego.
To further engage the community, SDAIHC offers Wellbriety
Gatherings and
weekly support
groups which are
open to all adults
seeking healing
and recovery. The
programming is
based on the White
Bison Wellbriety
Movement and
incorporates the
teachings of the
medicine wheel as
well as traditional
12 Step programs
that also incorporate
Native teachings.
Activities include
beading projects,
talking circles,
drumming, and
discussion.
Also to be noted,
the Substance
Abuse and Mental
Health Services
Administration
(SAMHSA) recently
awarded a grant,
Native Connections
in the amount of
$1,250,000 to
SDAIHC, to be
allocated over a
5-year period. “This
funding is intended
to establish and
integrate, within
the health center’s
existing model of care and in partnership with allied service
providers, a culturally responsive behavioral health program,”
according to Dona James, the organization’s Interim Chief
Executive Officer. “This program is focused on substance use
prevention and early intervention services while decreasing suicidal
behaviors among American Indian and Alaskan Native youth
through the age of 24 years.”
To learn more about the San Diego American Indian Health Center,
please visit www.sdaihc.org.
DECEMBER 2018 | GBSAN.COM 31