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SPRING 2017 NEWSLETTER 

Suspending Operations in Montana, Saving Seeds

4/3/2017

9 Comments

 

Suspending Operations in Montana, Saving Seeds
by Mark Hall

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John Marian working on a wheelchair ramp for a Northern Cheyenne elder.

​With an over 20 -year history of helping people help themselves, Red Feather has seen difficult times and has always overcome them.   We have been able to sustain our programs by listening carefully to the communities we serve and leveraging the wisdom of our large family of donors, partners, board members and advisors.   A new challenge presented itself when our recent annual appeal earned only half of what we were expecting.  To determine our path forward, four Red Feather board members, the five Red Feather staff members, and a seasoned facilitator came together. 
Through those conversations, we collectively concluded that our existing assets and expected income would not support our current operating structure, and that changes were necessary to ensure the survival of the organization.  Consequently, the Board and I decided to suspend operations in Montana where we have been working with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, until funding conditions are more favorable.  
In agriculture, there are times when planting fewer crops is necessary to save seeds for more favorable growing conditions.  A similar principle applies in organizational management – difficult prioritization decisions are often required to ensure a healthy future.  It is very difficult to discontinue our programs serving the Northern Cheyenne people, and to lose a valuable member of the Red Feather team in John Marian, but we felt strongly that this was the best way to ensure our programs endure to help others, and to hasten our return to Montana.
John Marian has served as Red Feather’s Education Director and Northern Plains Program Manager since 2014.  He originally joined the organization in 2012 as a part-time temporary employee, hired specifically to develop our first educational curriculum, a Basic Home Maintenance college course which he successfully delivered at Chief Dull Knife College in 2013.  Since that time, John has been responsible for creating all of Red Feather’s highly successful Do-It-Yourself educational programs, empowering Native Americans to address their most urgent housing needs.  In addition, John has developed and delivered several other important programs with and for the Northern Cheyenne people; such as healthy home maintenance workshops for low-rent tenants, a building performance study which included several Red Feather straw bale homes and led to a major home renovation project for Northern Cheyenne elder and veteran Bilford Curley, and, most recently, a volunteer-driven Weatherization Blitz.  While difficult to part ways with John, we are grateful for the time and devotion he gave to the Northern Cheyenne people and to Red Feather, and expect great things from whatever he undertakes next.  
We ask the Northern Cheyenne people, and all of our supporters and followers, to please be patient.  We must strengthen ourselves before helping others.   By focusing our remaining resources on the programs we offer to the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe we will grow strong enough to return to plant the seeds we have set aside.  We will continue to maintain a smaller office and storage in Bozeman, and thankfully retain our Office Manager, Delisa de Vargas and our VISTA worker Ellary Kramka.  We remember the Northern Cheyenne and are grateful for the faith they have shown us and the opportunities they have provided for us to become better people.  It is with this in mind, that we store the seeds that will allow us to return our programs to the Northern Cheyenne people. 
9 Comments
Ariel
4/4/2017 03:24:59 am

Cheering on your good work - touching one in a good way, touches all...

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Jeremiah
4/4/2017 04:01:35 am

Keep up the good work. I'm sure letting the fields rest for a year or two will make the crops even stronger next harvest!

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Janet Smith-Peterson
4/4/2017 04:46:01 am

I am deeply aware of how painful this decision is for Red Feather, and how hard you worked to avoid this path. I am holding a place in my heart for RF to return to N Cheyenne - stronger than ever. Your unwavering commitment to Native peoples remains an inspiration. Bless

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Jeanette Anderson
4/4/2017 10:45:30 am

I'm am very sorry to learn of the difficulties facing the
Red Feather organization. I hope and pray that the problems are resolved quickly. All my hopes and prayers are with you.

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Warren Lind
4/4/2017 07:20:44 pm

As one crop dies, a new one is reborn. The process you went through to reach this decision was the right path. You have planted many seeds of hope for the Northern Cheyenne. Blessings.

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Glenn Thornton
4/4/2017 09:04:05 pm

"We must strengthen ourselves before helping others"??? This is not the mission of RF. Praising John's work, all the while ceasing on the ground operations. Bemoaning financials, all the while maintaining Montana staff, office, and overhead costs while providing no services. These unguided actions do not bode well for RF. The vibrant and impactful organization I once knew has been cratering financially for years, not just now. A large bequest saved RF temporarily, and has now been squandered. A thoughtful causal analysis would ask what got RF here? Who led RF here? Why doesn't the once wide donor base trust the current RF direction? The leadership that got RF here, and continues to make armature hour business and operational decisions is not capable of returning RF to its past significance.

- Glenn Thornton, long time RF volunteer and donor

Reply
Mark Hall
4/5/2017 09:48:45 am

I appreciate all the comments - the words of encouragement are certainly welcome, but so are the words of sadness and frustration. We are sad and frustrated too, so it's not surprising that those that have been involved with this organization longer than we have are feeling this way as well.

Glenn raises some important questions about what got us into this situation. Its not uncommon for non-profits to find ourselves here, and its not our first time. We certainly do not want to repeat any mistakes of the past, but I believe strongly that the way forward requires looking ahead rather than backwards. This doesn't mean putting blinders on to our mistakes and deficiencies but it acknowledges them and then asks what we do now.

Glenn asks: "Why doesn't the once wide donor base trust the current RF direction?" This is a question that I would love to hear what people personally believe as well as their speculations on what others might be feeling. Anyone who has ideas can share them here or email me directly. mrkhall@redfeather.org

Thank you,

Mark Hall
Executive Director, Red Feather Development Group

Reply
Jane Smith-Peterson
4/5/2017 12:01:40 pm

Mark,
As you know, I have supported/donated/volunteered and served Red Feather since 1998, and I also am saddened by the slow gradual downward spiral that Glenn mentions.

As a past board member, I can attest to the heartfelt & passionate good will of the staff. That said, I had to leave the board as I was, and remain, deeply concerned about financial decisions made with unsound fiscal logic. Operations in Montana should have been halted long ago, and keeping an office, staff and overhead there, in the outside chance we go back, is an example of the decisions that have undermined the health of this amazing organization, and left donors wary and unsettled. From where does this money come??

I believe the wide donor base who trusted and supported RF did so because they offered a cause that was tangible and sustainable. This is my opinion of course, but building homes is what RF is about, and once leaving that mission, it has been downhill.

Since you asked...Building homes was a mission that donors could get behind and could even dream of participating in a home build themselves. They became not only donors, but advocates and messengers for RF. Loosing that focus was, in my opinion, a huge mistake. I think lost donors is less about trust and more about the change in mission. I hope it is not to late to consider circling back to that mission.

My two cents.

Reply
Mark Hall
4/13/2017 02:04:56 pm

Thank you Janet. I appreciate you sharing this perspective. Please know that financial considerations are a big reason why we are not building new homes at the moment. We are actively looking at ways to get back into building new homes. In the meantime I feel strongly that we are delivering programs that have been asked for by the tribes we are working with and that we are able to deliver given the resources and staff we have at this time.

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  • WHAT WE DO
    • The Impact of Healthy Housing
    • Education
    • Native Home Resource Network
    • Healthy Home Energy Safety Improvements
    • Our Results
  • WHO WE ARE
    • VISION AND MISSION
    • Board & Staff
    • Newsletters
    • MEDIA
    • Sponsors & Grantors
    • 990 Tax Information
    • Annual Report
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • START A FUNDRAISER
  • Contact
    • Handwashing System Request
    • Application For Home Repair Services