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"Operation Footprint"
One of the most innovative efforts ANA has been involved with in the Southwest is "Operation Footprint." ANA was the sponsoring agency which brought together the Readiness Training Program in which military reservists, National Guard members and the Air Force Academy, built homes to provide housing for the reservation and train Native Americans in the construction field. Four housing units built at the Air Force Academy and secured by ANA were assembled and installed on the Navajo reservation in 1998 by the military reserve. These were blessed by a Medicine Man and dedicated in the presence of two US Senators, one US Congressman, and selected military leaders. The significant aspect of these homes is that the poorest of the poor, who never expected to have a house, received them. ANA along with the Southwest Indian Foundation (SWIF) and the Navajo Nation’s Housing Authority were instrumental in achieving what was believed to be virtually impossible, to have the Navajo Nation agree in advance to sponsor building materials and building lots. SWIF continues to coordinate the effort and supplies a warehouse rented for $1 a year from the Navajo Nation to build housing year round. A vehicle, specially designed and built by SWIF, moves the houses to the reservation sites. This project currently builds 30 houses a year at an amazing cost of $20,000 per house. From 2000 to 2011, ANA was the sponsoring agency for SWIF, which helped them accomplish the construction of hundreds of homes for the Navajo reservation. The goal of establishing a housing program in Gallup where Navajos are taught building trades has been achieved. |
Civil Air Patrol Special Projects
ANA engaged in a unique, cooperative program with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) each summer from 1995 to 2006. Started by Scott Zeller and Dan Pompei, teenage cadets from Pennsylvania were flown by the United States Air Force (at no cost to ANA) to New Mexico or Arizona to help with service projects on the Zuni, Hopi and Navajo Reservations. ANA and CAP senior volunteers were leaders and chaperones. The program was concerned with improving the infrastructure and living conditions of Native Americans on the reservations while educating our youth about other cultures and the benefits of helping others. Homes were renovated, handicapped ramps were constructed, buildings were painted, roofs were redone, and public areas were cleaned up. Hundreds of young people and adults were part of this experience.
ANA engaged in a unique, cooperative program with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) each summer from 1995 to 2006. Started by Scott Zeller and Dan Pompei, teenage cadets from Pennsylvania were flown by the United States Air Force (at no cost to ANA) to New Mexico or Arizona to help with service projects on the Zuni, Hopi and Navajo Reservations. ANA and CAP senior volunteers were leaders and chaperones. The program was concerned with improving the infrastructure and living conditions of Native Americans on the reservations while educating our youth about other cultures and the benefits of helping others. Homes were renovated, handicapped ramps were constructed, buildings were painted, roofs were redone, and public areas were cleaned up. Hundreds of young people and adults were part of this experience.
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School-to-School Programs
The School-to-School Program is when schools in the East very generously contribute much needed items to Native American schools in the Southwest. Our School-to-School Program involves public, private, and religious schools here and on the reservations.
Past School-to-School Accomplishments
- At the end of the 2011-2012 school year, Council Rock School District changed its reading program for the fall. The staff at Sol Feinstone Elementary School in Newtown helped to sort and pack over 1,000 pounds of their no longer needed reading program materials to ship to one of the schools we work with in the Southwest. The PTA at that school donated an incredibly generous $800 to pay for the shipping.
- The children in the Church School classes at Doylestown Presbyterian Church made quilts to send to students who board at their elementary school during the week. These students live so far away from their schools, that transportation each day is not possible.
- The students and faculty at Leary Elementary School in Warminster, Pennsylvania collected $350 to purchase books. (See photographs of the presentation)
- A National Honor Society student at Central Bucks High School East in Doylestown, Pennsylvania collected two brand new parkas, two new blankets, several throws, various gloves and hats, as well as enough money to purchase another ten blankets and have them shipped to the Southwest.
- The second graders at Gayman Elementary School in Doylestown, Pennsylvania sent over 160 new hats, scarves and mittens to Baca Community School in New Mexico. In fact, this school has had many collections of these items over the years.
- The children at Simmons Elementary School in Horsham raised $5,000 by putting on a WALK. They designated that it go to books, art supplies and T-shirts.
- ANA has received generous corporate donations of books from Scholastic Books and Lisa Libraries in New York City. All of these donations have been sent directly to the Navajo schools. One of the directors who received shipments of new books wrote, "You should have seen the children’s faces, eyes lit up and grins from ear to ear. Toys are usually quickly forgotten, but the memory of a book lasts a long time."
- Schools in the Philadelphia region organized book drives as part of their Native American studies. As a result:
- Second graders at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania collected over 500 books.
- Third graders at Central School in Haddonfield, New Jersey collected over 600 books.
- The seventh grade classes in Pennridge School District held a book drive and collected over one thousand books.
- Other items sent to the Southwest schools:
- Art supplies, crayons, paper, markers, pens and pencils
- Basic hygiene items which we take for granted such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and deodorant
- Good quality warm jackets, sweaters, and jeans
- Games
- Sports equipment
The Reach Out and Read Program
The goal of the program was to encourage literacy development in young patients. ROR accomplishes this goal by reaching children at an early age and providing parents with the information, support, and materials they need to make books a part of their children's daily lives.
A 1994 grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation enabled ROR to replicate programs throughout the country. With generous support from PNM Foundation, NationsBank, the Western Health Foundation and Americans for Native Americans, Reach Out and Read was started in Gallup in April of 1998.
ANA continued to assist the program for a number of years by providing funds for books to ensure that every child received an age appropriate book. This is significant because McKinley County, New Mexico had the lowest reading scores in the United States, and this ultimately made a significant impact on the educational level of Native Americans. According to Kent Hodges, past ANA Field Director in Gallup, "Most homes on the reservation do not have a single book. To give a child a new book causes the greatest excitement. You know it becomes a prized possession."
Approximately $20,000 worth of books were distributed in the ROR program in Gallup and the surrounding area each year. In 2001, ANA funded 100% of the cost. In 2002, ANA funded only three-fourths of that sum thanks to some enterprising young people at Simmons Elementary School in Horsham, PA. They sponsored a walk and raised over $5,000 to go toward books, t-shirts and art supplies.
The goal of the program was to encourage literacy development in young patients. ROR accomplishes this goal by reaching children at an early age and providing parents with the information, support, and materials they need to make books a part of their children's daily lives.
A 1994 grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation enabled ROR to replicate programs throughout the country. With generous support from PNM Foundation, NationsBank, the Western Health Foundation and Americans for Native Americans, Reach Out and Read was started in Gallup in April of 1998.
ANA continued to assist the program for a number of years by providing funds for books to ensure that every child received an age appropriate book. This is significant because McKinley County, New Mexico had the lowest reading scores in the United States, and this ultimately made a significant impact on the educational level of Native Americans. According to Kent Hodges, past ANA Field Director in Gallup, "Most homes on the reservation do not have a single book. To give a child a new book causes the greatest excitement. You know it becomes a prized possession."
Approximately $20,000 worth of books were distributed in the ROR program in Gallup and the surrounding area each year. In 2001, ANA funded 100% of the cost. In 2002, ANA funded only three-fourths of that sum thanks to some enterprising young people at Simmons Elementary School in Horsham, PA. They sponsored a walk and raised over $5,000 to go toward books, t-shirts and art supplies.