FEBRUARY 1, 2001
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what our task is," said Henry. "It is a
difficult one because it's hard to imag
ine that if you've never experienced
it before. We double our efforts in the
seventh week to be available so we
can support families and kids."
They teach families separately
about communicating with their
child and what they have gone
through.
The night before graduation they
have a karaoke party.
"It gives us a chance to play and
celebrate," said Henry.
The
day of graduation there is
drumming and celebrating of the
successes.
The kids receive academic credits
for all the activities they have done.
Henry is certified through the State
of Oregon and is registered with the
Alternative Schools Program. This
year, there were 32 young people
back in high school after the seven
week program.
They finally feel like they can be
successful again," said Henry. "I so
often hear the kids say the last time
they felt they were successful was
back in the fourth grade. That is
really scary to me."
They lose a lot of kids between
ninth and twelfth grades.
"High school is not an inviting
place for many of our kids," said
Henry. "They experience discrimi
nation, a lack of support and social
connection."
This year there were a total of 81
enrolled kids 43 males and 38 fe
males. The majority of the kids last
year were from a rural environment
like reservations.
There were 16 young people with
dual diagnosis. That means that
they have not only a chemical depen
dency problem, but also a mental
health disorder. Those might range
from depression, attention deficit or
der or post traumatic stress disorder.
This usually means that they were
on some type of medication. Before .
the kids can go on medication, the
staff at Nanitch has conferences with
parents. The young people are su
pervised and mentored very closely
during their stay at Nanitch.
There were a total of 66 young
people out of the 81 that were in
volved with alcohol. About 50 were
involved primarily with drugs such
as marijuana, cocaine, methamphet
amines and heroin.
"Amazingly inhalants are what we
call the 'gateway drug," said Henry.
"We have kids that have had a sig
nificant amount of brain damage
done by inhalant use. Inhalants are
legal."
Out of the 81 enrolled, 54 of them
were nicotine users.
There were 61 who completed
treatment and finished a minimum
of 70 percent of their treatment
goals. Only four did not finish a
minimum of 70 percent of the objec
tives. Many young people complete
the treatment program with an in
creased awareness of cultural and
traditional ways associated with
their heritage.
9 Young People
0- 14 Days
4 Young People
15 - 30 Days
66 Young People
31 - 60 Days
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
38
Female Q Male
0
Rural Area i I Urban Area
In 2000, the young people came from
26
different Tribes.
Clients patients who completed treatment and finished
a minimum of 70 of their treatment objectives
61
Clients patients who completed treatment and did not
finish a minimum of 70 of their treatment objectives
4
Clients patients who have an increased awareness
of culturaltraditional ways at discharge
62
Clients patients who have not increased awareness
of culturaltraditional ways at discharge
(pre and post tests to establish baseline and results)
6
Candi Henry said she is thankful for the support the
young people receive from the Tribe...
"I would like everybody to know how deeply grateful the
families, the kids and our staff are for the support for the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, "said Henry. "The com
mitment that the Tribe has made, notonlyatthe Tribal Coun
cil level, but at the individual level on the behalf of the greater
Indian community is touching. It's something that I cannot
even put into words I feel so grateful. Thank you to the
Elders that come in and help with the kids. The kids are
willing to learn from them and that connection is so incred
ibly powerful. The kids love it and need that connection.
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Candi Henry
Nanitch Sahallie Division Manager
the gift of recovery and the ones who have the capacity to
break the cycle of addiction and demonstrate pride in being
Native Americans.
nI think that when we see the quality of the facilities that we
are given, the people are just filled with so much gratitude. I
have had parents come in the front door and say they have
heard it was an Indian program and thought it would be in a
basement of some dark, dirty building," said Henry. "This
(building) tells them that we care enough about their kids to
have them in a clean place to stay.
"Every one of the kids that came in this session had less that two changes of
clothes, so the $2,000 a year that the Tribal Council gives us helps us buy
clothes for them," said Henry. "The way those dollars are spent are on behalf of
our young people who are our future, they are the ones that are going to carry
"I would like to let everyone out there know that they are
always welcome here at Nanitch Sahallie," said Henry. "We
would love to have people come to meals, crafts, sweats and ceremonies. We
love to have people involved in teaching our children the language and prayers in
all of our languages at Nanitch. I'm personally very grateful in their outreach,
care and love that they give our kids. "