A grant proposal in response to SM-23-021 to support suicide prevention, substance misuse prevention and mental
health promotion within the Blackfeet Nation, Montana. More specifically, the purpose of this proposal is to;
1) prevent and reduce suicidal behavior and substance use,
2) reduce the impact of trauma, and
3) promote mental health among Blackfeet young people up to and including age 24.
This will be done by;
1) reducing the impact of mental and substance use disorders with culturally responsive and evidence based
models that will reduce and respond to the impact of trauma (both historical and current), and
2) fostering community support for youth and young adults through the facilitation of collaboration among
local agencies.
This grant application is following 5 years of a current successful Native Connections grant. Though we have
poured an incredible amount of education, training and support into our community our youth is still suffering
greatly. One of our communities is currently in a state of crisis with a youth suicide cluster. In lu of these
events we are requesting additional support through another Native Connections grant to continue the work we
started. We hope to continue to provide education around mental health through the distribution of wellness and
crisis packets, increase our communities capacity to respond to mental health illnesses through trainings,
awareness building, and improved collaboration between our programs and with our protocols, and direct support to
our community with our culturally resonant activities. We will focus on the continual improvement of all of these
activities through another Community Needs and Readiness Assessment, ongoing program evaluation and direct
communication with a youth advisory board. Our program will meld western and traditional Blackfeet ways of
healing to provide the most opportunity for wellness as possible.