This Tucson nonprofit provides programming designed to heal, restore and preserve Indigenous identity for Native American youth, families and adults.
Carmen Duarte When he was a teen, Vince Flores-Maldonado was drawn to gangs in the Yaqui community of Guadalupe, south of Phoenix.
That journey began with Native American teachings when he was in his early 20s, and he moved in with his uncle on desert acres in the middle of nowhere in Wittmann, 35 miles northwest of central Phoenix. Flores-Maldonado, an artist who began the coalition's work with Yaqui families in 2016 — two years before it became a nonprofit — received help from other Indigenous artists who recognized Western medicine was not treating the spiritual needs of Native American families.
The coalition has a Native American staff of 35, including therapists, behavioral health technicians and counselors who are members of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, the Navajo Nation and the Tohono O'odham Nation. Other outings include traveling to Sells, the capital of the Tohono O'odham Nation, for cholla bud harvesting — a nutritious fruit used in salads and other dishes. They also travel to the lush White Mountains to attend performances of the Apache Crown Dancers. who perform a ceremonial dance to protect the community from disease and enemies.
Clients learn skills to maintain sobriety, live independently, maintain accountability, find employment and take money management classes. "My uncle used his land for teaching. He was a spiritual leader and he lived in a single-wide manufactured home. We had to haul water to the acres and he used solar energy to charge the phones, operate the water pump and to look at TV," recalled Flores-Maldonado, who learned manual labor from his uncle.
'Holistically and unconditionally'Anna Tarazon, office manager and program coordinator for the organization, said the coalition serves clients that"don't necessarily fit" in other programs. The former Pascua Yaqui Tribe project manager for social services and a former associate evaluator and research analyst for tribal behavioral health programs, said she also recognized that cultural and spiritual aspects in behavioral health treatment were missing from tribal programs.
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