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Housing investment helps Native Americans overcome addiction

Jan. 10, 2006

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Deborah White*

SAN FRANCISCO (UMNS) - A new $12 million building painted in warm
Southwest colors opened recently here, allowing the expansion of a
holistic addiction treatment program emphasizing Native American culture
and values.

With a new facility, the Friendship House American Indian Healing Center
expanded in 2005 from 30 to 80 beds, lengthened treatment from 90 days
to six months and added a six-month transitional housing and job
training program.

About 85 percent of the Friendship House clients are from Native
American tribes in California and other states. When they arrive at
Friendship House, many are homeless, unemployed and addicted to alcohol
or amphetamines. Most leave with a strong commitment to sobriety. They
find jobs, resolve legal problems, understand their heritage and feel
more balanced in body, mind and spirit.

"It works for us as Indian people. We're different," said Helen
Waukazoo, a Navajo and executive director of the Friendship House.

Construction was made possible in part through a $1.8 million, 30-year
loan purchased by the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health
Benefits as part of its affordable housing investment program.

The board bought the loan through the Low Income Investment Fund, which
conducted a thorough review of the Friendship House. Other funding came
from private donors, foundations and government sources.

Since 1990, the pension board has invested in projects across the
country, helping create or renovate about 25,000 housing units.
Affordable housing commitments total $1.3 billion.

"The entire denomination should take pride in the fact that money
supporting clergy and lay retirement benefits has made such a positive
and meaningful change in the lives of the underserved," said David
Zellner, chief investment officer of the pension board.

The affordable housing program also has been a sound investment,
producing a 7.5 percent rate of return since its inception. Contributing
factors include holding loans to maturity, a rigorous application
process and a lower-than-usual default rate. "We simply would not have
made as many investments in affordable housing were these investments
not proven to be superior ways to attain superior investment returns
commensurate with risk," Zellner said.

Friendship House's new facility replaced a smaller deteriorating
building nearby in the Mission District of San Francisco, which has been
a center of the Native American community since the 1950s. The Christian
Reform Church founded the Friendship House in 1963 as a social service
agency.

One of the early participants was Waukazoo, who moved to San Francisco
as a young adult. She joined the staff in the 1970s, when the Native
American community assumed control of Friendship House and formed a
nonprofit organization, Friendship House Association of American
Indians.

"I think we are having a tremendous impact on the community," Waukazoo
said.

Friendship House combines traditional Native American values and
spirituality with Western psychology and the 12 steps of Alcoholics
Anonymous. The program includes traditional prayers, medicine men,
healing ceremonies and a sweat lodge. Clients are assigned
responsibilities, including cleaning and cooking.

Native American designs are used throughout the building. "I wanted the
building to represent American Indian people," Waukazoo said.

The relapse rate of Friendship House clients is less than half the
industry average. More than 60 percent stay sober for more than two
years after graduation, according to a report from Devine & Gong Inc.,
community development financial consultants.

"The bedrock of Friendship House's provision of care is a belief that
its clients' physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health are
interconnected and interdependent," the report said.

Research shows Native Americans are more susceptible to addiction when
they walk away from traditional ways such as ceremonies, prayers,
language, family or community. "So we intertwine that as a balance,"
said Orlando Nakai, a Navajo who is clinical director. About 80 percent
of the 50 staff members are Native Americans.

Some clients, like Bruce Williams, were not raised with traditional
Native American values, but enjoy learning them at the Friendship House.
"What I like most about the program here is the traditional ways they
are teaching us," Williams said. "The 12 steps, along with the
traditional healing, the talking circles, the groups we have here, are a
big part of my recovery."

Michelle Sauceda, a client who grew up with traditional values of the
Miwok tribe, said the combination of Native American spirituality and
the tools of Alcoholics Anonymous will help her once she leaves
Friendship House.

"It makes me feel I truly belong to a place where you're just like
everybody else here," she said. "I truly love this place."

*White is associate editor of Interpreter, the official ministry
magazine of the United Methodist Church, and Interpreter OnLine.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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