VIDEO: The Native community gathers to support healthy babies

April 25, 2014

Native American families in Multnomah County are working on strategies to improve health and the future of their children. The Future Generations Collaborative is a new, award-winning partnership between Native American and Alaska Native community members and native-serving organizations, including the Multnomah County Health Department.

Native American families in Multnomah County are working on strategies to improve health and the future of their children. The Future Generations Collaborative is a new, award-winning partnership between Native American and Alaska Native community members and native-serving organizations, including the Multnomah County Health Department.

Since 2011, this collaborative has recruited and trained 18 community organizers and facilitators. They in turn have held eight community forums that revealed the real need for community healing.

To honor this community voice, in January 2014, nearly 200 people participated in a Gathering of Native Americans (GONA) to increase healthy pregnancies and healthy births in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

Native community members, staff from community-based organizations, government agencies, and others interested in addressing issues related to healthy babies took part in the three-day event.

“The number one thing the community has been facing is alcoholism and fetal alcohol. That's the point we're focusing on now,’’ said Kenny Shields, Sioux and Chippewa.  “The group may be small, but you know what happens when you drop a pebble in the water? You get a ripple effect. I have a feeling we're going to get bigger, and stretch  far and wide. That's my hope."

The GONA is a unique community healing event that uses a relational worldview – or the concept of balance and that all things are related – to bring individuals and communities into balance. The GONA highlighted family and cultural strengths in an effort to address persistent health disparities in the Native community.

According to the Future Generations Collaborative, one in five births to Native American and Alaska Native women result in a poor birth outcome like low-birthweight or premature birth, and one in five Native children is removed from their family and taken into child welfare custody. The Future Generations Collaborative and the GONA are meaning to improve these outcomes.

“[The GONA] is a model for community healing around the impacts of substance abuse. The Future Generations Collaborative is about preventing substance abuse-affected pregnancies,” said Jillene Joseph, executive director of the Native Wellness Institute and one of the facilitators for the event. “But it goes beyond that. Supporting healthy pregnancies goes to supporting healthy mothers, which goes to supporting healthy families, which contributes to healthy communities,” added Joseph.

The gathering also affected the work of Multnomah County employees who attended like Debra Newton and Heidi Leibbrandt, with the Health Department’s Business Services.

Leibbrandt, a senior contracts specialist, said she got involved with the GONA because she wanted Multnomah County to honor their promises to the Native American Community.

“Annual proclamations have come and gone over the years with what seems like little action,” said Leibbrandt. “I wanted to help break down the barriers between Native American-owned businesses and government.  I wanted to show that I was committed to real change and to personally assure that my family tradition lived on by advocating for the Native American community.’’

“It became very apparent that success will come only if we all work together,” Leibbrandt added. “I learned that slowing down, listening to people and sharing personal stories ultimately builds trust.’’

She said she also recommitted herself to active involvement with the Oregon Native American Chamber and is seeking to connect businesses with opportunities at Multnomah County as well as outreach events in the community.

Ideas and suggested actions generated from the GONA were presented at a follow-up Making Meaning meeting in late February.

In April, the collaborative was awarded the Health Department’s Social and Equity Justice Public Health Hero Award.

For more information on the GONA or the Future Generations Collaborative contact Heather Heater, Early Childhood Services, Multnomah County Health Department at 503-880-3148.