Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner announced a new $1.675 million Community Impact Grant program.

This program will be for the tribe's nearly 70 affiliated non-profit organizations across the reservation and across the United States.

This program was announced at the 18th annual Conference of Community Leaders, presented virtually by the tribe's Community and Cultural Outreach department.

“Our latest grant program for CCO-participating organizations has the potential to make the most impact,” said Chief Hoskin. “We cannot build Cherokee communities from the top down. We must build them from the grassroots up.”

The tribe's CCO department works with over 40 Cherokee community organizations across the reservation.

The organizations focus on a variety of areas such as cultural preservation, nutrition, and community service.

Many of these organizations operate the more than 30 community buildings within the reservation.

COO administers multiple outreach and grant programs for community organization capacity building and capital projects.

In 2019, Hoskin, Warner, and the Council enacted the Housing, Jobs, and Sustainable Communities Act which injected $7 million into community organizing efforts focused on environmental sustainability.

That law was extended earlier this year with another $7 million commitment for COO's sustainability grant program.

The new Community Impacts grants adds to the existing COO programs, providing up to $25,000 for community food security, organization public outreach, needs survey, organization overhead costs, and support for volunteer in-find assistance for community members in need.

CCO will provide grant applications to each participating organization later this week.

The new Community Impacts grants as well as COO's other grant programs will be the focus of its annual kickoff meeting to be held later this fall.

Grant applications will be taken from August 15 to December 31 of this year. The grant must be spent by September 30 of 2024. Only the nearly 70 on-reservation and at-large CCO participating community organizations are eligible for this program.

“We’ve been working with CCO for decades. CCO empowers Cherokee community organizations to serving the needs of local Cherokees and their families,” said Bill Davis, president of Native American Fellowship Inc., of South Coffeyville, Okla. “We will immediately begin making plans to put a Community Impact grant into action.”

Warner gave praise to the new program for helping all Cherokee community organizations, both at-large and on the reservation.

“I’ve traveled our reservation extensively and also visited with many at-large community leaders,” said Deputy Chief Warner. “No matter where I go there is a hunger among Cherokee citizens to work together, in the spirit of ‘gadugi,’ to preserve our culture, teach our history and serve those in needs at the local level. Community Impact grants will help community leaders achieve those goals.”

Tsa-La-Gi LA Chair Cynthia Ruiz said she has seen more resources for at-large Cherokee organizations in recent years and looks forward to learning more about the new grant program.

“Cherokees are Cherokee no matter where they live,” Ruiz said. “Our organization puts funding provided by Cherokee Nation to good use and it keeps us connected to our tribe.”

More information on the COO programs can be found by calling 918-207-4963 or visiting here.