The Sac and Fox Nation (Oklahoma) received a grant in 2019 to establish an Elder Multidisciplinary Team and to set up an Adult Protective Services Department. This grant enables us to help the Tribal Elders in our community. Through our team, we work with law enforcement, healthcare and social services and our work is focused on increasing community awareness on Elder Abuse and better protecting Tribal Elders who report abuse. Our collaborative efforts provide our Elders with a helping hand as well as resources that will benefit them individually and benefit our community. This could be in terms of connecting them with information or services, as needed. Our team also provides outreach and education on elder abuse issues to other relevant programs through in-person training and printed brochures. We also reached out to other Tribes, and we have come together to help individuals of all Tribes in Oklahoma.
For our largest community awareness project, we collaborated with artist Walter Pourier, with Nakota Designs, to create billboard advertisements that captured the beauty of our tribe and share information about our program with our community. The message on the billboard focused on the sacrifices that our Elders had made for the community, and how it was our duty to protect them, and to stop the scourge of intergenerational trauma.
We have achieved so much in the past few years that shows that there are people out there who need this assistance and will succeed with the right people in their corner. Many of our clients reach out to us to thank us and check in with our team, because they feel comfortable, safe, connected, and happy where they are. Our program is committed to serving the older adults in our community so that all of our Tribal members and Elders can age in safety with dignity, connection, and a helping hand, where needed.
