“Up above Wah-sekw”
The Wah-sekw Won Scholarship Program (or Scholarship Program) was developed to assist with college-related costs for Yurok Tribal members, their families, and other local tribal members who enter a college seeking a career in the behavioral health field and other related fields that have the desire to work within the Yurok tribal community. The Scholarship Program has funding to provide approximately 20 participants with a financial scholarship that may include a stipend, tuition assistance, books and other fees, and assistance with transportation costs.
The Kee Cha-E-Nar Board along with the Yurok Tribe has developed a comprehensive Wellness Vision for the Yurok Tribal Community and surrounding areas. The Yurok Wellness Vision includes approaches to address mental health, alcohol abuse, and substance use disorders among Yurok families and the local tribal community. The Wellness Vision projects range from an inpatient regional treatment center which is currently in development, an outpatient substance abuse treatment clinic with cultural and holistic approaches to pain management and wellness, the provision of medically assisted treatment services, residential treatment for women with their infants and young children, preventative services, transitional and supportive housing, and development of housing opportunities for the required behavioral health workforce to serve this Wellness Vision.
All the above projects and services require an increase in behavioral health staff with specialized education and training in mental health, substance abuse disorders, and co-occurring conditions. For optimal success, the increased behavioral health workforce will come from within the tribal community who have a better understanding of the community and, in some cases, may have personal or family ‘lived experience’ in addressing these complex conditions and contributing factors, including historical trauma.
A recipient will be required to pay the cost of the scholarship back to the Program unless they work in a local Tribal community program in a behavioral health field for the period of years equal to the number of academic years for which they received support.
For more information please email: keechaenar@yuroktribe.nsn.us
Download the Application: https://keechaenar.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wah-sekw-won-scholarship-application-2024-1.pdf
Funding for the Scholarship Program was provided by Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity.