By Ben Blevins | Community Organizer
Covid 19 has had a dramatic impact on tribal communities in terms of health and stress. The fear that an unseen virus can immediately disrupt your family has generated anxiety for us all. Medical research has documented a clear link between stress and well-being. We know that one way to improve well-being is to assist people in dealing with stress by increasing social connections to address the causes of stress directly. Gaining a sense of control over an aspect of life and having positive social interactions has a significant impact on the lives of individuals and communities.
The importance of people having a sense of control over their lives is well documented in studies of the impact of stress on communities' health and well-being. That is why we believe it is critical to design programs that allow individuals and communities to have opportunities for direct participation in the decisions that impact their lives. Marc A. Zimmerman, in the handbook of community psychology, documents the many beneficial attributes of community empowerment programs. His research demonstrates that even hobby clubs can significantly increase an individual's sense of empowerment and civic engagement. Zimmerman describes empowerment in terms of individual capacity to solve problems and an organization's resources and connections.
This last quarter we have connected the members of By the Roots, the community-based family farming organization on the White Mountain Apache reservation, with the engineering programs of York College and North Carolina State University. This collaboration has led community surveys to develop a hierarchy of outcomes for desired programming and projects. Under the supervision of professors, students from York University designed water capitation and irrigation solutions for individual families.
This Spring, the project supported By the Roots purchased tools for a community sharing shed that is uniting 13 family farmers in a mutual support network modeled on agricultural cooperatives. This network enables families to collaborate on equipment without having to focus on producing for the market. Frequently, small farmers have to choose between feeding their extended families or selling crops to afford to farm. This resource-sharing network enables farmers in a community facing significant food insecurity to share the harvest with neighbors rather than focus on purchasing equipment.
During weekends in March and April, the project supported community reclamation efforts to restore ancient irrigation canals. The weekends are not just about growing crops. They are also about growing community and sustaining the connections between generations to preserve tribal traditions and values.
We will be hosting visitors interested in engaging with the program from June 27th to July 3rd. There will be canning and preserving classes, a workshop for visitors on Apache wild harvesting traditions, service work on a community garden, and lectures on tribal sovereignty and food security. Please contact us at info@highlandpartners.org if you would like to see your donations at work.
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