RCAC Home Page >

Native leadership group gives community landmark a facelift

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT NEWS

By Victoire S. Chochezi, RCAC PR communications coordinator

The Indian Senior Center in Mendocino County completed a much-needed facelift, made possible by community members who completed a comprehensive leadership development program.

Before the training was complete, the leadership group agreed that their elders were a priority and they chose to repair the dilapidated senior center as a course project. The group, comprised mostly of tribal members, graduated from the training in September 2008 and completed their project in October 2009. The community held an open house to celebrate completion of the senior center upgrades.

The center serves about 70 meals a day and is a gathering place for elders and other community members. Most meals are delivered to people’s homes throughout the county. The services are not limited to Indian seniors. No one is turned away.

“We had no electrical outlets in the kitchen at all,” said Rita Ray, Indian Senior Center director. “The most important problem we needed to address was the electricity,” she said.

Volunteers used extension cords and power strips to operate appliances and prepare meals, which would inevitably overload the circuits, resulting in frequent power outages and electrical hazards.

After the group met with the center’s director and talked with residents, they agreed that the electricity was the first item to repair. They quickly raised the money, upgraded the electricity and purchased a new stove.

Ray provided a wish list to the leadership group. They prioritized the items, raised money and worked with Ray to replace the cabinets, carpets and paint the walls.

“We like to help in the community,” said Alicia Yeppez, wife of Brian Yeppez, one of the more active and vocal members of the Mendocino County leadership group.

“The whole family came down. Even other children in the community came with us to help out,” she said.

Tanya Estrada is a member of the Redwood Valley Rancheria. She has two jobs and takes care of her uncle, a senior who she brought to the celebration. “I am grateful to the senior center and everything they do every single day,” she said. They bring her uncle meals when she is unable to get there between jobs. “It is very comforting to know that he is able to have a meal when I’m not there.”

“The improvements to the center are significant. It shows what a group of people who put their minds together can do,” said Darlene Tooley, Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority executive director.

“Anytime we do something that shows significant change, people step up. Everybody is really happy to see the changes in this facility. It was somewhat neglected and it’s not anymore,” Tooley said.

Training new leaders

Mendocino County is home to more than 13 tribes. Tribal members have no problem identifying challenges in their community, including an affordable housing shortage, maintaining safe drinking water standards (especially in light of changing regulations), alcoholism, unemployment, reliable public transportation, domestic violence, education gaps and other issues. They often look for ways to improve their living conditions, including RCAC’s leadership development program.

The program offers a comprehensive curriculum delivered in roughly 64 hours including project planning, development, implementation, fundraising, marketing, recruiting volunteers, conflict management, meeting management, identifying available assets, stakeholder analysis and much more. At the end of the training, participants are given one year to implement a small, inexpensive (less than $12,000), project that involves all the training participants and community volunteers. To successfully produce the project, they must raise the money, include community participation and use the skills they learned through the training.

“Leadership training programs are always very worthwhile. Here [at the center] you can see the physical results of it. You started with a group of people and within the course of a year they learned how to work together. They conceived the project, planned for it and they executed it. Now they can see the benefit of working together and they proved to themselves that they could do it,” said John McCowen of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.

“When you have continuity and you build on the success you had the year prior, the benefit to the community and the people who participate is multiplied in an exponential way, not just one for one,” he added.

Back to Top

Back to Network News ...

View a complete list of RCAC Rural Stories…