Story by Shannon Maho, Program Coordinator I have known about Red Feather for more than five years, and have been the Program Coordinator for the last year. Prior to being a Red Feather staff member, I was a volunteer for small projects and during a straw bale house project at Hopi in 2014. Prior to coming to Red Feather, I completed degrees in sustainable green building and interior design, while gaining hands-on experience in the private and government construction industries. I truly enjoy having the opportunity to give back to my Navajo and Hopi tribal communities. I am proud of the positive impacts Red Feather’s programs have on the families we help. The team effort that exists among Red Feather staff, and the communities we serve to develop and implement solutions for local housing needs, ensures our work has a lasting positive impact. As the Program Coordinator, my responsibilities are processing applications for the programs, coordinating projects-both big and small, and working with independent contractors and the homeowners to ensure our work is effectively implemented. I’m especially proud of our efforts to develop the local workforce by hiring skilled labor workers and contractors from our partner communities, and providing them with the support they need to be successful. I believe deeply in program efforts to provide hand-ups and not hand-outs wherever possible, by encouraging families to get involved any way they can in their home repair projects. Even without asking, many offer to prepare meals for the workers and donate craft items as part of their gratitude. Red Feather shares many stories through social media, so please check our Facebook and Instagram pages to see how our services help to build ramps, weatherize homes, repair roofs, and educate and empower homeowners to maintain a healthy home. Red Feather regularly offers free workshops to Navajo and Hopi communities. Our Do-It-Yourself style workshops, including Healthy Heating, Women’s Home Maintenance, and Home Weatherization, are highly popular and often have dozens of names on a waiting list. In the past six weeks we’ve completed three Healthy Heating workshops at the Hopi Sipaulovi Youth and Senior Center. These workshops focus on wood stove maintenance and safety, teach fire safety presented by the Hopi Fire Department, and provide information on alternative heating sources and on-site visits. Here are two stories I’d like to share that highlight the positive impact of our work: An elderly lady living on the Navajo reservation applied for our NHRN program and we were able to get her qualified for weatherization services, as well as our USDA Housing Preservation Grant that enables us to provide extended health and safety home improvements. By the end of her project, she finally had a bathroom with working toilet, and to her relief no longer has to leave her home to use the facilities at neighboring convenience stores. Before, her primary heating source was a space heater, which was replaced with a mini-split heating and cooling unit that alleviates safety hazards, spares her from gathering firewood, and lowers her heating cost. She also had a ramp built to prevent falls for both herself and her daughter, who also has mobility issues. The homeowner said, “I had applied and asked for assistance from other organizations and programs, and Red Feather was the first to knock on my door". She was well deserving of our services, for she has raised many foster children and from the stories she tells, they are now doing well and attending college. Another elderly woman, from the Hopi nation, recently benefited from our weatherization program but still had many outstanding home repairs that we were not able to resolve with any of our current grant sources. However, through the means of a donor-sponsored fundraising campaign, she will soon be the recipient of a mini-split heating and cooling system and an indoor and outdoor ramp for safety measures. Currently, she has a wobbly plastic step that is so dangerous for her to use, she has told us, that she doesn’t leave her home. This woman is just the sweetest. We are all ecstatic that she will be given the help and services she needs. My experience working with Red Feather has been nothing but fulfilling. I am excited to go to work every day and often find it hard to pull away from work at the end of the day. My favorite part of what I do is visiting the families throughout the duration of their project. In the end we see how just knocking on their door from the very first visit made a difference in resolving their home improvement issues for a safer and healthier living environment. After that first visit, it’s not just a simple hello- hugs are given. At times it does get emotional for me; many of our clients are elderly and they deserve the ultimate respect and care. I am so happy that Red Feather can provide that in what we offer. Being able to go home to the Hopi and Navajo reservation as part of my job is an added bonus, and I am constantly learning who my relatives are. Now I can say I have so many more grandmothers and grandfathers. It’s important to care and respect our elders and veterans. Respect is what I teach my children, not only for the human race, but also for nature and the environment. Respect. Kyaptsi (pronounced kep-si). Thank you, Red Feather, for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this organization that has proven to help so many of my people. Askwali Ahéhee' NHRN:
Our Native Home Resource Network program was designed to help families address health and safety home repair needs. Our case managers work with home owners to assess their needs and available resources and then leverage our networks to gather the missing components to complete needed repairs. Often, it takes multiple resources in order to fully address the needs of a given family. One example of an NHRN resource is a Housing Preservation Grant we were recently awarded from USDA Rural Development to help Navajo families living in Cameron, AZ. We also have specific funding from Kendal Charitable Funds that helps us conduct aging in place assessments for tribal elders and provide them with simple home modifications like grab bars, anti-slip mats, toilet risers, and LED lighting. Currently we have over 136 families that have contacted us for assistance. Our policy is to give each family a minimum of an hour of our time, in which we provide them with advice and referrals. As our capacity allows, we then move these cases into an active management status. At this time, we are actively helping 19 families find the resources for their housing repair needs. The recent addition of Shannon Maho to our team has greatly increased our capacity to service more active cases. Professional Weatherization: We are now in our fourth year providing professional home weatherization services to Hopi and Navajo families that receive electricity from APS. Since the start of 2019, two Hopi professionals, employed by our subcontractor CozyHomes, LLC, have been able to make substantial improvements to the comfort and energy efficiency of 14 homes so far. Ensuring that the envelope of a home (roof, siding, windows, doors) and insulation are intact is often our first priority to ensure families have the basic framework for a healthy home. Many of the families that come to us through this program also require the help of NHRN to resolve health and safety repairs that are not covered under our contract with APS. We are grateful to have this case management program to help families find additional funding when necessary. Healthy Heating: Over the past year we developed a new healthy heating educational program with support from the University of Arizona Foundation’s Agnese B. Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice. Now with their additional support, we are developing a heating demonstration site to introduce two alternative heating technologies to the Hopi community and learn more about their performance. The driving need for this work is coal, the primary fuel source for many Hopi and Navajo families, is expected to become very scarce at the end of 2019 with the closure of Navajo Generating Station. Now, more than ever, healthy heating alternatives are needed, and Red Feather is working earnestly to respond to this need. Four Corners Stove Replacement and Weatherization Program: We are now helping to facilitate a project in the Four Corners region of New Mexico on the Navajo Nation that seeks to improve indoor and outdoor air quality by providing cleaner heating appliances and increasing home heating efficiency in 500 area homes. Many families burn coal and wood to heat their homes, often with older, inefficient appliances that can contribute to disproportionate rates of respiratory disease. The funding for the work is provided via a consent decree by Arizona Public Service, Southern California Edison, and other owners of the Four Corners Power Plant. Roy Hosteen has joined the Red Feather staff to coordinate this program. The duration of the project is expected to be about three years, and Red Feather is honored to have been asked to play a part in this important work. With the arrival of spring we begin to see encouraging signs of new growth. What we were previously seeing as dormant is showing itself to be very much alive and healthy. Red Feather is showing similar signs. Signs that roots are well established, and programs are beginning to blossom. These signs have indicated that now is an appropriate time for the organization, and for me personally, to transition back to my role with Red Feather’s board of directors. As such, effective June 30th I will be turning over the role of Executive Director to a new person, yet to be identified. The search will be thorough to find the right person to take Red Feather into the next decade. I am determined to help find an exemplary candidate that can be brought on board before I leave. That will allow me to best support the transition. I am confident that with my continued involvement on the Red Feather board, the transition will be a smooth one. I have found my involvement with Red Feather to be tremendously rewarding on many different levels, from emotional rewards to the personal growth that it has afforded me. I expect that the next person to lead this organization will find similar rewards and in return will drive an even greater impact with all of your continued support. I'd like to thank all of you, for supporting Red Feather and me personally while I had the honor of being in charge. I look forward to continuing to work together to empower more people to make their homes healthier. Sincerely grateful, Mark Hall
Executive Director We are excited to announce that we recently added two new staff members to the Red Feather team! Shannon Maho, who is located in our Flagstaff office, is coordinating the Professional Weatherization program and serving as a case manager for the NHRN program. Shannon studied interior design, sustainable green building and alternative energy in university. She is from the Village of Walpi on the Hopi reservation and Forest Lake area of the Navajo Nation. Shannon has professional experience working in kitchen design, housing development, code enforcement, water conservation and municipal recycling. In her free time, she enjoys martial arts, reading, baking, sewing and spending quality time with her kids. Roy Lee Hosteen is based in Upper Fruitland, New Mexico and is coordinating the Four Corners Stove Replacement and Weatherization program. Roy was born in Shiprock, NM on the Navajo Nation and hasn’t ever lived too far from there. He worked in his family’s home construction business through high school and after attending college, he went on to have a 33-year career in the mining industry, working across multiple disciplines including graphite draftsman, statistician, surveyor, computer analyst, site project representative, budget coordinator and project manager. He is fluent in Navajo and English. He has a passion for hearing stories of his elders and enjoying their laughter when humor is exchanged in Navajo. He is a well-respected jeweler, and his hobbies are gardening, landscaping, art collecting, traveling and sightseeing. Dear Red Feather, I want to thank you, your company, your workers for coming to my aide, in time of dire need. On October 1, 2018 during the prolonged rain, my house roof started leaking rain water into two bed rooms, living room, dining room, and walls. I was desperate for any help or advice. I asked the local chapter government and the job training program for workers to repair my house. There was none. Everything became hopeless…. One week later I was told my request (with Red Feather) is approved, and they will seal the leaking roof .. seal all other leaks, replace broken windows, seal the doors …The workers were very friendly and understanding. I am very grateful to your program.” |
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