NDN COVID-19 Response Project Awards $2.5 Million to Indigenous Communities in April

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2020

Rapid City, SD – Today, The NDN Collective, Inc. (NDN) announces our COVID-19 Response Project Phase I Partners and the completion of our Phase I essential service grants. NDN Collective opened our call for applications on April 9, 2020, to support essential service delivery in Indigenous communities dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through April 30th, we received over 170 applications and hundreds of inquiries from Indigenous-led efforts to support their communities in light of the novel coronavirus.

In the first month after announcing the NDN COVID-19 Response Project, NDN has made awards to 95 Tribal Nations and Indigenous-led organizations totaling over $2,500,000 in grant awards. Selected grantees represent Indigenous communities from 23 states and Mexico.

“NDN is honored to quickly move these resources to outstanding efforts in Tribal communities working to mitigate the first wave of effects from the spread of the coronavirus,” said Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective President and CEO. “We know that we have not seen the peak of this health crisis in our home communities, and NDN Collective continues to call upon philanthropy and those with resources to continue supporting COVID-19 response projects that prioritize vulnerable populations.”

“Over the next year, Tribal communities will face a shortfall in revenues as Tribally-run businesses, entrepreneurs, and Indigenous small businesses face challenges in the social distancing economy,” said Tilsen. “It is imperative that we do not lose sight of the spread of the coronavirus and its impacts, even as cases in metropolitan areas stabilize while cases in rural America ramps up.”

While the current phase of NDN’s essential service grants has completed, NDN Collective is still accepting grant applications for the Indigenous Artists and Entrepreneurs fund, and has an open Request for Information for Indigenous consultants with a history of successfully working with tribes. Future phases of the NDN COVID-19 Response Project will continue to focus on mitigating the impact of the coronavirus in Tribal communities. For more information and to sign up for updates, please visit http://ndn.staging.deeplight.studio/covid-19/.

“We are so thankful to NDN Collective for supporting our work, and especially for helping cover costs we didn’t anticipate in our original fundraising,” said Ethel Branch, organizer for the Hopi and Navajo COVID Families Relief Fund and recipient of an NDN COVID-19 Response Project grant. “NDN’s support will ensure we are providing quality food baskets to our elders, immunocompromised and vulnerable families.”

NDN Collective wishes to thank all of our community, philanthropic partners, and peers throughout Indian Country who have played an active role in responding to the coronavirus. We are honored to support these outstanding organizations and projects in the first phase of our COVID-19 response project:

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About the NDN Collective: 

Founded in 2018, the NDN Collective’s mission is to build the collective power of Indigenous Peoples, communities, and Nations to exercise our inherent rights to self-determination, while fostering a world that is built on a foundation of justice and equity for all people and the planet. We do this through building Indigenous power in partnership with the philanthropic and investment sectors. For more, visit www.ndncollective.org

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sarah Sunshine Manning
NDN Collective Director of Communications
sarah@ndncollective.org, (605) 791-3999

COVID-19 RESPONSE PROJECT FUND CONTACT:

Michael Johnson
NDN Collective Director of Advancement 
michael@ndncollective.org, (605) 791-3999