Overview:
The Native Vision program is an unprecedented youth enrichment and empowerment initiative for American Indian children, operated by the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health (Center) in partnership with the National Football League Players Association. Founded in 1996, by Johns Hopkins, the NFL Players Association and the Nick Lowery Charitable Foundation, Native Vision has mobilized dozens of professional athletes as mentors to serve thousands of American Indian youth in health and education programs designed by Johns Hopkins public health experts.
The Problem Being Addressed:
American Indians living on reservations in North America suffer from the poorest health, socioeconomic and educational status of any ethnic or racial group in the United States. In spite of these problems, American Indian youth today are seen by their communities as the hope for the future of Native America. They come from a heritage rich in physical, cultural and intellectual strengths. However, formidable barriers Native youth face stifle their capacity to chart a productive future—such as their current geographic and emotional isolation; lack of social, economic and educational opportunities; and poor access to basic health and lifestyle education.
The Strategy for Problem-Solving: The Native Vision Initiative
The guiding principle for Native Vision is to cultivate the core strengths, values and positive relationships for American Indian youth that will make them resilient to the prevailing risks and help them transition to healthy, productive and fulfilling adulthood. The Native Vision program is administered by Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, which has a 25-year nationally renowned track record for serving and collaborating with tribes to address priority health, social and education problems.
Native Vision Program Description:
The Native Vision program is designed to promote three major areas of well-being for participating children and families:
Healthy Minds: The goal of “Healthy Minds” is to promote children’s school completion and intellectual development.
Healthy Bodies: The goal of “Healthy Bodies” is to increase levels of fitness for children with the aim of reducing diabetes attack rates and obesity as a long-term outcome for this highly susceptible population.
Healthy Families: The goal of Healthy Families is to strengthen vulnerable families and improve health and life outcomes for young American Indian parents and their children.
Native Vision Annual Summer Camp:
The hallmark of the year-round Native Vision program is an annual sports and life skills camp that attracts Native youth from across the country. The camp is held each June on a reservation and rotates to a different tribal community every 2 to 3 years. At the camp, professional athletes conduct sports clinics interspersed with break-out sessions that promoted self-esteem, discipline, team work and the pursuit of education. More than 750 youth from 25 tribes and 3,000 Native community members participate, and 50 professional athletes representing football, basketball, baseball, soccer, track and field, volleyball and lacrosse lead sports and mentoring clinics at the camp.
Since its inception, more than 5,000 youth, 2,000 families and 25,000 Native community members have been served through the Native Vision initiative. The following reservations have hosted the camp:
1996 Navajo Reservation, Chinle, AZ
1997 Navajo Reservation, Chinle, AZ
1998 Windriver Reservation, WY
1999 Windriver Reservation, WY
2000 Windriver Reservation, WY
2001 White Mountain Apache, AZ
2002 White Mountain Apache, AZ
2004 10 Southern Pueblo Tribes, NM
2005 10 Southern Pueblo Tribes, NM
2006 White Mountain Apache, AZ
2007 White Mountain Apache, AZ
2008 10 Southern Pueblo Tribes, NM
2009 White Mountain Apache, AZ
The annual "Evening with the Stars" fundraising gala offers corporate and individual supporters the opportunity to improve the lives of our country’s first people while enjoying an evening of mingling with the stars, dining and an auction of unique sports memorabilia and packages including an all-expense paid trip to the Super Bowl. Proceeds from Evening with the Stars benefit Native Vision’s Annual Sports & Life Skills Camp.
Please contact Jackie Shearer at the NFLPA at (202) 756-9120 or at jackie.shearer@nflplayers.com for more information about the NFLPA’s partnership with Native Vision.