Covid 19 Educational Inequities Relief Fund

GRANT APPLICATION COVER SHEET

Organization: Dine’ Strong Youth Leadership

Address: PO Box 1234 Aztec, NM 87410

Phone: (505) 123-4567

Executive Director: Tiffany Castillo

Email: info@dinestrongyouth.org

1. Project/Program Title (if applicable): Hozho Summer Enrichment Retreat

2. Briefly describe the project/program and specific use for funds requested:

Dine’ Strong Youth Leadership develops leadership through community service, educational
achievement, personal discipline, and respect to build productive members of society. This
program serves high school students to support appropriate leadership and conflict
management skills which, allows students to become successful students and later adults with
skills that will follow them through high school, college, and into the workforce.

3. Grant Request: $65,000.00

Total Project/Program Budget $65,000.00

4. Specify Geographic Area(s) targeted for this Project/Program:

Native American high school students from the Four Corners area who reside on and off the
Navajo reservation.
5. Is this a collaborative effort? Yes

If Yes: Which Organizations are collaborating: Dine’ Strong Youth Leadership; Hozho Residential
Campus; Shiprock Youth Training program.

6. Specify populations served by this Project/Program: Choose ONE in each category

AGE: Choose ONE:

Children (5-11) x Youth (12-18) Children & Youth (5-18)

ETHNICITY/RACE: General Population OR if ethnicity/race represents more than 51% choose

ONE:

Asian-Asian/American Black/ African American Hispanic/Latino

x Native American White, Non-Hispanic Mixed, Non--White Other
Dine’ Strong Youth Leadership is fully committed to help Native American youth in developing
leadership life skills that will assist in the development of school and future life goals. The
organization has partnership with various youth groups in the surrounding Four Corners area.
We have worked with Shiprock Youth Training program for many years and have successfully
implemented several retreats and sports programs in the recent years. Currently we are
working with Dr. Kee who is the Executive Program Director at Hozho Residential Campus in
Aztec, NM to implement a summer retreat for current Native American high school students
who reside on and off the Navajo reservation. Our mission is to work with underprivileged
youth who do not have resources available that promote educational support and mental
health awareness.

Dine’ Strong Leadership devotes work with Native American youth throughout the Four Corners
surrounding region. We invite Native American youth, primarily high school students who live
on and off the reservation to participate in the leadership program. Our primary target is to
work with youth who come from homes that have limited provisions such water or electricity.
The Navajo reservation is the largest reservation in the United States, the reservation spans
across the states of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Members of the tribe who live on the
Navajo reservation have battled poverty for many generations. The statistics provided by the
Census provides a glimpse of the astounding rates of poverty that effect members of the
Navajo tribe https://censusreporter.org/profiles/25200US2430R-navajo-nation-reservation/.

Native American youth from the Navajo reservation face many challenges of not having
resources. Navajo families face challenges of traveling to school every day, this is due to the
large demographic of the Navajo reservation. Families will travel to and from school, many
times in harsh conditions, as the Navajo reservation have no paved roads. Although school
buses are available surrounding school districts will allow the buses to travel only a certain
distance and as a result families will meet the school bus to pick up their youth every day.

Dine’ Strong Youth Leadership organization has provided opportunities for Native American
families to participate in programs that promote growth in many aspects. Our organization also
provides transport of participating youths to the retreat destinations so that they can
participate in programs at no cost.

The goals for Dine’ Strong Youth Leadership:

• To develop leadership through community service.
• Educational achievement.
• Developing personal discipline.
• Build productive members of society.

The development and implementation of these programs serve high school students with life
skills that will follow them through high school, college, and into the workforce.
The Hozho Summer Enrichment Retreat will allow 25-30 high school students to participate in
the summer program at the Hozho Residential Campus.
We will focus on developing both leadership and accountability traits during the 8-week
retreat. There will be numerous outdoor fitness activities that the students will participate in.
These activities will stimulate and promote leadership and accountability.

Dine’ Strong Youth Leadership will collaborate with the Shiprock Youth Training program to
provide transport services to the campus each week, Hozho Residential Campus is in Aztec NM,
with an estimated 1-3 hours of travel. Students will stay at the Hozho Residential Campus
during the retreat where all meals and provisions will be provided.

Students will participate in activities and engage in group projects that will promote leadership
skills. “Developing leadership skills can empower you to make a positive impact on your life and
lives of others https://youthinprogress.org/resources/topics/10-ideas-for-developing-
leadership-skills/. Students will participate in engaging conversations with other students and
retreat leaders, and this allow students to analyze their own strengths, weakness, and capacity
to lead.

All students will learn the importance of accountability. Students will learn to be socially
responsible in their lives and online. While staying at the campus the students will care for their
own personal hygiene and possessions. They will also be required to complete all or any task
given efficiently and correctly while staying on campus.

Retreat leaders will create clear expectations with students rather than setting it for them. This
will us to hold them accountable for their behaviors and use student voice to create and
increase engagement.

Fitness activities will include:

1. Hiking
2. Basketball
3. Obstacle courses
4. Flag Football
5. Rafting
6. Camping
7. Fishing

Benefits of outdoor exercise programs:

a) Natural antidepressant
b) Challenges body
c) Provides mental relief.
d) Team building
e) Improves focus.
f) Social awareness

The outcomes of participating in outdoor fitness are known to increase positive attitudes about
school, improved behavior, improved attendance, and enhanced student achievements.
Due to the success of similar student programs that the Dine’ Strong Youth Leadership
programs participated had participated in the past, we are confident that the Hozho Summer
Enrichment Retreat will meet the capacity for sustainability and replicability for future retreats.

With careful examination we have created a budget that will allow our program to meet all the
required needs. We are working in conjunction with several companies who are in Colorado for
the outdoor excursions.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this proposal, you may reach Tiffany Castillo at
(505) 123-4567 or email at info@dinestrongyouth.org.

Budget
Time Frame June 2024- July 2024
Salaries/ Wages $ 30,000.00
Frindge Benefits $ -
Contract Services/
Professional Fees $ 3,000.00
Communications $ 2,000.00
Office Supplies $ 3,000.00
Equipment Supplies $ 8,000.00
Travel $ 9,000.00
Indirect Costs $ 8,000.00
Other $ 2,000.00
Total Budget $ 65,000.00