Four Winds American Indian Council

Four Winds American Indian Council has developed a survival supply program for unhoused relatives in the Denver metro area. Houselessness plagues indigenous Peoples across the United States at a rate larger than any other group per capita.There are large numbers of unhoused Native relatives in relocation cities, which Denver is a part of. Four Winds American Indian Council orders essential supplies like sleeping bags, tents,heaters, tarps,gloves, hats, MREs and backpacks to help relatives who live outside, specifically during the winter months, and distributes them to individuals. We have also a request form that unhoused folks can fill out and submit themselves. Four winds keeps 25-30 survival packs to distribute to unhoused community members.Four Winds nurtures the community in various and powerful ways, particularly by providing a low-barrier space for community organizations and programs to operate. Lakota Way Healing Center, a Four Winds community partner, uses the building to provide cultural, arts, and healing programs. Lakota Way Healing Center serves urban Native American men, women, and children to find support, re-discover lost cultural connections, and begin to heal from addictions.Four Winds American Indian Council is an American Indian "liberated zone" located in the heart of Denver, Colorado in the original territories of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute Nations. By "liberated zone" we mean that Four Winds is a facility where Indigenous Peoples are free to use the buildings for Native empowerment. Four Winds is one place in Denver where Native people can speak their languages, participate in their ceremonies, honor the lives of passed loved ones, strategize and organize for their liberation, and rebuild an empowered community. To us, a "liberated zone" is much more than a physical place, it is a philosophy. As such, we have several means of supporting our community in addition to our work to educate and spiritually enrich our community. This support takes the form of direct and indirect financial assistance with funeral expenses and the cost of travel back to reservation communities when funerals or ceremonies take place there, or when unexpected hardship strikes a family or individual in our community. We also recognize that our work for liberation is intimately braided with the liberation of our Indigenous nations themselves, so we often transport and distribute donations of toys, clothing and other goods to children and families living in reservation communities during the holidays. As part of our liberated zone, we also make supplies available for unsheltered Native Americans living on Denver's streets and have, at times, provided safe haven camping space or allowed people to stay on our property overnight. We call this our Homeless Survival Program internally and with partners, but it is a small service that makes up a piece of the larger work of cultivating a liberated zone for our community