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Friendship House of San Francisco
Receives $2.25 Million Grant for Substance Abuse Treatment and
HIV/AIDS Services The purpose of the grant is to enhance and expand substance abuse treatment and outreach/pretreatment services in conjunction with HIV/AIDS services in traditionally underserved communities affected by substance abuse and HIV/AIDS. “This grant award is remarkable in that it recognizes the impact of HIV/AIDS in the American Indian community, a traditionally underserved community,” says Helen Waukazoo, Chief Executive Officer. “The grant award also recognizes the high quality of care provided at Friendship House of San Francisco. We are very proud of this opportunity.” Grant funds will be used by Friendship House of San Francisco to implement evidence-based treatment practices encompassing services such as case management, substance abuse counseling, HIV testing, mental health referrals, and HIV risk reduction education. In addition, grant funds will be used for community outreach efforts designed to inform individuals on how they can lower their risks for substance use and HIV infection. For questions or for more information, please contact Ashley Phillips at Friendship House at 415-865-0964 or by e-mail at AshleyP@friendshiphousesf.org
Friendship House is hosting the event to celebrate the hard work and determination of Native American Health Center over the past five years to plan and build the 21,000 square foot medical and dental clinic in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland. The facility also includes 35 units of affordable family and low-income housing built above the new clinic and developed separately by the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation. “This is a stunning achievement for the American Indian community,” says Helen Waukazoo, Chief Executive Officer at Friendship House. “The new facility is absolutely beautiful and creates a real sense of permanence for the American Indian community. We are all so very proud of Native American Health Center to make this dream come true.” The Salute to Native American Health Center event
will feature the Friendship House Drum, traditional dancers, guest
speakers, special musical guests and recognition of the achievements
represented by the new Seven Directions Facility. The Grand Opening
of the new Seven Directions Facility will be later that afternoon
at 2950 International Boulevard in Oakland at 5 pm. Friendship House to Host Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. of San Francisco is pleased to announce that it will host a Community Clean and Sober Halloween Dance to benefit Friendship House. The event will be held at the Women's Building located at 3543 18th Street, between Valencia and Guerrero Streets, in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District. The event will be held on Friday, October 31, 2008 from 8 pm to midnight. A Red Road speaker/discussion will be held before the dance at 7 pm. All are welcome to attend. This is absolutely a clean and sober community event. The Community Clean and Sober Halloween Dance will provide a safe and fun Halloween celebration which is open to the entire community. Halloween costumes are optional but encouraged in the spirit of the event. The dance will feature DJ music provided by Funky White Productions. Tickets are $8 in advance (click here to purchase online) or $10 at the door with nobody turned away for lack of funds. Group discounts are also available. The Red Road speaker/discussion before the dance at 7 pm will feature J. Carlos Rivera of Sacramento Native American Health Center Inc. presenting information about the Wellbriety Movement and the American Indian Red Road to Recovery. "We are sponsoring the Community Clean and Sober Halloween Dance to provide a safe Halloween party alternative for the community," says Myra Smith, Health Educator at Friendship House Association of American Indians. "We are proud to have Carlos Rivera speak at the first Bay Area Red Road Speaker/Dance event and we hope this will be the start of many similar Red Road events in the Bay Area American Indian community." The mission of Friendship House is to promote healing and wellness in the American Indian community by providing a continuum of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services that integrate traditional American Indian healing practices with evidence-based substance abuse treatment methods. Friendship House is state-licensed, certified, and nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Friendship House operates at two locations - San Francisco (80-bed residential facility for adults and substance abuse prevention activities for youth) and Oakland (5 beds for women and 6 beds for their children). Both facilities provide an array of comprehensive services including: intake and screening; assessment of needs; individual, group, and family counseling; case management; life skills workshops; traditional arts and healing practices; employment training and assistance; and health and wellness education/referrals. For questions, comments or for more information,
please feel free to contact Ashley Phillips at Friendship House
at 415-865-0964 or by e-mail at AshleyP@friendshiphousesf.org Saturday, November
8, 2008 Rooted in the philosophy and overarching values of Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. of San Francisco, the Friendship House Youth Program is an integral part of the organization's prevention activities for alcohol and substance abuse in our community. The Friendship House Youth Program offers American Indian families and youth an array of services including after-school programming that provides academic, arts and cultural enrichment. The Friendship House Youth Program will host the 3rd Annual Dancing Feathers Youth Pow Wow during American Indian Heritage Month on Saturday, November 8, 2008, from 11 am to 6 pm at Friendship House, 56 Julian Avenue. The Dancing Feathers are a Native youth traditional dance group of the Friendship House Youth Program. The Pow Wow will include American Indian dancing and drumming, display and sale of American Indian arts and crafts, and a raffle to benefit the youth program. The purpose of the Pow Wow is to provide our youth dancers an opportunity to be introduced to the social and cultural protocol of Pow Wow etiquette. The event fosters community connectivity as youth assume leadership roles and gain confidence in sharing their culture. "Last year, the Dancing Feathers Youth Pow Wow was a phenomenal success and milestone for the young dancers and their families," says youth program director Marvin Paddock. "This year we anticipate an even larger response." For additional information, please contact Marvin at Friendship House at 415-865-0964, or e-mail at MarvinP@friendshiphousesf.org
WOVEN THREADS: Weaving broken lives back into their families and
community. That's what we do at Friendship House. It takes many,
many threads to weave. Threads that bind us, support us, and provide
us the strength to keep us intact. When the threads are carefully
and painstakingly woven together, one by one, the results and
healing can be powerful. Your continued support of Friendship House is as
always greatly appreciated. We look forward to hearing from you
in the very near future. Friendship House to Celebrate
American Indian Heritage Month at City Hall Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. of San Francisco is pleased to announce that it will sponsor the American Indian Heritage Month Celebration at San Francisco City Hall. The event will be held on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm and will be co-sponsored by KQED, Native American Health Center and the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services. American Indian Heritage Month celebrates the diversity and cultures represented in the American Indian community and honors community leaders who have made significant contributions to the community. The event is a hallmark of the richness and beauty of American Indian people and their families. The American Indian Heritage Month Celebration will feature traditional dancers, drummers, guest speakers and information about Bay Area American Indian organizations. KQED will present its annual American Indian Local Heroes Awards to nominated and selected community leaders and Friendship House will recognize Mayor Gavin Newsom for his contributions to the organization and community. "We sponsor the American Indian Heritage Month Celebration to share American Indian culture with the greater community," says Helen Waukazoo, Chief Executive Officer at Friendship House Association of American Indians. "We hope that the event helps to create greater awareness of the American Indian community in a family-friendly and enjoyable environment." The mission of Friendship House is to promote healing and wellness in the American Indian community by providing a continuum of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services that integrate traditional American Indian healing practices with evidence-based substance abuse treatment methods. Friendship House is state-licensed, certified, and nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Friendship House operates at two locations - San Francisco (80-bed residential facility for adults and substance abuse prevention activities for youth) and Oakland (5 beds for women and 6 beds for their children). Both facilities provide an array of comprehensive services including: intake and screening; assessment of needs; individual, group, and family counseling; case management; life skills workshops; traditional arts and healing practices; employment training and assistance; and health and wellness education/referrals.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. of San Francisco is pleased to announce the 4th Annual American Indian Cultural Celebration & American Indian Market. The event will be held on Saturday, July 19, 2008 from 10 am to 6 pm and will be located at 56 Julian Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets in the Mission District of San Francisco. The American Indian Cultural Celebration & American Indian Market is a new San Francisco street festival featuring art and craft booths, dancers, drummers, informational booths about Bay Area American Indian organizations and Indian tacos and refreshments will be on sale. Educational activities will be offered in the Friendship House courtyard and will include talks about aspects of American Indian culture, presentations about the sweat lodge, and four tipis will be erected. Additionally, recognition and awards including the Gary Rhine Memorial Awards will be presented to Bay Area American Indian community leaders. The event celebrates the diversity and cultures represented in the American Indian community and honors community leaders who have significantly contributed to Friendship House and the American Indian community. The event is a hallmark of the richness and beauty of American Indian individuals and their families. "We created the Cultural Celebration and American Indian Market to share American Indian culture with the greater community," says Helen Waukazoo, Chief Executive Officer at Friendship House Association of American Indians. "We hope that the event helps to create greater awareness of the American Indian community in a family-friendly and enjoyable environment." The mission of Friendship House is to promote healing and wellness in the American Indian community by providing a continuum of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services that integrate traditional American Indian healing practices with evidence-based substance abuse treatment methods. Friendship House is state-licensed, certified, and nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Friendship House operates at two locations - San Francisco (80-bed residential facility for adults and substance abuse prevention activities for youth) and Oakland (5 beds for women and 6 beds for their children). Both facilities provide an array of comprehensive services including: intake and screening; assessment of needs; individual, group, and family counseling; case management; life skills workshops; traditional arts and healing practices; employment training and assistance; and health and wellness education/referrals. The American Indian Cultural Celebration & Indian Market is co-sponsored by San Francisco Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, Native American Health Center, Pula Band of Mission Indians, Betty Taylor, Benjamin Bratt, Jenny Wiley, California State Automobile Association and Sober Spirits. For questions, comments or for more information,
please feel free to contact
American Indian Cultural Day 2007 San Francisco, November 2, 2007- Friendship House honored San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom at the 3rd Annual American Indian Cultural Celebration at City Hall on Friday, November 2, 2007. Along with KQED Public Broadcasting and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, Friendship House honored the Mayor and recipients of KQED's Local American Indian Heroes Awards and the 2007 Gary Rhine Memorial Awards. The event was a great success, complete with American Indian tribal dancers and drum. The 2007 Gary Rhine Memorial Awards for Raising Awareness About American Indian Culture, History & Contributions, were presented to Johnny Radzik For Distinguished Contributions In Film, Video, Theatre, Arts and Education; to Sherlee Rhine For Distinguished Contributions in Philanthropic & Business Leadership and her friendship and support of the American Indian Community; and to Tom Phillips (Kiowa-Muscogee Creek) for Distinguished Contributions as Master of Ceremonies, Traditional & Spiritual Counselor & Community Leader. The awards honor a late, great friend of the American Indian community, Gary Rhine, and are presented to keep his memory alive and inspire others. The 1st Annual American Indian Market followed the City Hall event at the Friendship House Healing Center. This well attended event featured over 25 vendors selling American Indian arts and crafts, community educational booths, the sale of American Indian tacos, a raffle of American Indian arts, crafts and jewelry, and more beautiful American Indian tribal dances, drum, and musical and vocal performances. CEO Helen Waukazoo Honored by California Rural
Indian Health Board, Inc.
Generous Donation
from Wells Fargo
San Francisco, March 22, 2007-
The clients and staff from the Friendship House Association of
American Indians would like to say a big thank-you to Wells Fargo
for their gracious donation of $10,000. Katy Johnson, Wells Fargo
Community Development Officer, accompanied by Phillip Duarte,
one of our Board members, hand-carried the larger-than-life check
to the Friendship House on the morning of March 22, 2007. The
check was presented to Helen Waukazoo, Chief Executive Officer,
in the presence of a cheering crowd of staff and clients. In gratitude,
Friendship House presented Wells Fargo with a handmade Lakota
star quilt.The generosity and support of organizations like Wells
Fargo help keep our doors open and set an example for other potential
corporate donors. Friendship House
Youth Program
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) of
San Francisco has generously contributed 67 backpacks and $ 700
in personal donations from individual employees of PG&E to
the Friendship House Youth Program. Friendship
House Healing Center Honors San Francisco Mayor Newsom
San
Francisco, October 6, 2005 -We
were pleased and honored to receive a personal visit from esteemed
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on October 6, 2005, when he was
welcomed with a tour of our beautiful new facility. During the
ceremony that followed, he was presented with a beautiful Navajo
pot and our Friendship House Sobriety Drum dedicated an honoring
song to him. The tour was followed by a few words in the Helen Devore Waukazoo Great Hall from Friendship House CEO Helen Waukazoo; Orlando Nakai, Clinical Director; and Tom Phillips, Traditional Counselor and Master of Ceremonies; Martin Waukazoo, CEO and program directors of the Native American Health Center; and leaders of the American Indian community. Our clients in residential treatment loved his words of encouragement to them. After he finished his short speech, he immediately went over to the clients to shake their hands and tell them how proud his is of them. Several wanted their pictures taken with him, and he was very generous with his time. This Mayor has been extremely supportive of Friendship House, dating back to the time when he was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. At that time, he and our CEO, Helen Waukazoo, served as Join Together Fellows, a groundbreaking program of the Boston School of Public Health. The Mayor has never forgotten what he has learned about the needs of American Indians. CEO Helen Waukazoo stated "I am very much encouraged that he remains a very strong, vocal advocate for funding and services for our American Indian people. It is exciting to think that, if he continues to climb the political ladder, Friendship House and the American Indian community may have a strong advocate in Sacramento or even Washington, D.C.!"
The award by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the amount of $400,000 per year for five (5) years, is to provide integrated culturally appropriate residential substance abuse treatment, aftercare, case management, community outreach, supportive housing, mental health services, HIV/AIDS prevention, and medical and dental services for the Native American homeless population in the San Francisco Bay Area. The purpose of the Friendship House Homeless project is to build a comprehensive, substance abuse treatment system and to increase linkages to permanent housing to agencies serving the homeless in San Francisco. Culturally relevant services will be organized under one roof to improve access for homeless Native Americans. Friendship House has reached the culmination of a ten year effort to develop the Friendship House American Indian Healing Center, an 80-bed residential substance abuse treatment and transitional living facility in the Mission District of San Francisco. At the American Indian Healing Center, Friendship House will provide the most comprehensive range of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and aftercare services that are available under one roof anywhere in the country for American Indian people. Funds Support Health Programs -New article by TIM O'LEARY / The Press-Enterprise Temecula, July 15, 2004 - A Pechanga tribal leader has persuaded a corporate foundation to donate $50,000, and possibly more later, to health programs that target urban Indians. The grant is one of the largest allocated this year by the Aetna Foundation, the philanthropic group linked to a major health care and insurance company. Representatives of the two Bay-area recipient groups gathered at the Pechanga Resort and Casino on Wednesday to receive the money and praise the efforts of Norman Pico Sr., a member of the tribe's Gaming Commission and a candidate in Saturday's election for tribal chairman. "We never would have come into contact with Aetna without Mr. Pico," said Martin Waukazoo, who is the chief executive officer of the Oakland-based Native American Health Center, which received $40,000 from the grant. The center plans to use the money for a dental program targeting many of the 80,000 Indian adults and children living in the Bay area. The program, which can also help diagnose diabetes and other diseases, mainly serves children, but it also encourages adult participation. The remaining $10,000 was given to the San Francisco-based Friendship House Association of America Inc., which provides substance abuse prevention and recovery services. "Any time we get some money, it helps a child or an adult. There are many needs," said Helen Devore Waukazoo, executive director of the association. She said many of the people served by the program's 40-bed substance abuse center are homeless. "They have no place to go. They are Indian people," she said. "It is sad to see Indian people homeless in their own land."
Helen
Waukazoo recieves Friendship
House American Indian Healing Center Groundbreaking Honoring Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman and House Minority Leader  San
Francisco, April 14, 2003- In appreciation
for her friendship and strong support over many years, Friendship
House honors the esteemed Congresswoman and House Minority Leader,
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi with a gift of Navajo pottery on April
14, 2003. Want to Help Friendship House? You can help play an important role in the construction of the Friendship House Healing Center. While Friendship House has acquired commitments of public financing to build this important community facility, we still need additional financial support to cover unanticipated expenses, cost overruns, and other emergency needs as the building progresses. We are asking for the support of individuals like you to help make this dream come true. Your tax-deductible contribution will ensure that the construction of this facility will be built on time. Please send your check or money order to: You will receive in the mail from us additional information about this unique project, and your contribution will be acknowledged at our opening ceremonies. If you have a family member or a friend who has passed away as a result of alcohol or drug additions, you may contribute in that person's name and we will likewise acknowledge your gift in their memory. For more information about this project, call the Friendship House at 415-865-0964 |
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Board
President Declared Local American Indian Hero
San
Francisco, October 4, 2004- Mayor Gavin Newsom announced
with excitement and some fanfare a $2.0 million award to the Friendship
House Association of American Indians for their Treatment for Homeless
Project. Adding his warm congratulations to Friendship House and
to its CEO Helen Waukazoo, the Mayor noted that nearly half, or
$2.0 million, of $4.6 million awarded today in federal homeless
grants to San Francisco is targeted to help San Francisco's homeless
American Indians. 
San
Francisco, September 14, 2003- Well over
two hundred people came out to show their support of the new Friendship
House American Indian Healing Center which took place on September
13th. We celebrated this historic day with friends, family, community
members, respected elders, The Honorable Mayor Brown, Friendship
House Staff, Board of Directors, and our Executive Director, Helen
Waukazoo. Steve Darden graciously performed the Traditional Groundblessing
Ceremony. Construction is set to begin in early 2003. Once construction
begins, we invite you to watch the construction progress with us
through our website.