Foster Grandparents Bring Joy to Navajo Nation Kids

By George Joe
Special to Tribal Connections

FLAGSTAFF - Navajo foster grandparents came from every corner of the Navajo Nation to be recognized for volunteering with children at Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, Ariz. in May. "Thank you for volunteering. You really deserve this respect and we are all very proud of you," said Anslem Roanhorse, Jr., executive director of the Navajo Division of Health, who addressed 195 elders who volunteered more than 150,000 hours this past year. The recognition ceremony is an annual event.

"You truly are the fabric of our nation," added U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., a guest speaker.

Navajo elders participate in team building activities at the Navajo Foster Grandparents Recognition Ceremony in Flagstaff, AZ in May

The Navajo Foster Grandparents Program, run by the Navajo Area Agency on Aging office within the Navajo Division of Health, is one of only four such programs within the state of Arizona, but with a volunteer rate that is three to four times higher than the other Arizona projects. It falls under the Senior Corp program of Corporation for National Service, a federally funded national program with 30,000 volunteers throughout the U.S. Participants work 20 hours a week and are paid $2.65 an hour. The program initially began in the mid-1960s and the Navajo Nation joined in 1971.

"The Navajo Nation Foster Grandparents Program is a model program in Indian country," said Lenny Teh, an official with the Save the Children Foundation. Carole Mandino, who has spent 20 years working with senior volunteers throughout northern Arizona, believes the high volunteer rate in the Navajo Nation is because the Navajo signed on when the national project was in its infancy.

"It is [now] entrenched in Navajo culture," said Mandino, senior program coordinator for Northern Arizona University's Gerontology Institute. "There have been so many generations of volunteers on Navajo, that it has become part of the culture," she said, adding that the Navajo have great respect for their elders. "They have better relationships with children, than off-reservation people. They are the knowledge of the people and are an untapped resource."

There's an estimated 20,000 tribal members age 60 years on up across the reservation. Elders said they enjoy volunteering because it makes them feel good.