Wo’ohitike Collaborative to host Healthy Relationships Training

Rapid City – Across Indian Country, a need exists to improve access to family-oriented health services. A new initiative from the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board will help Native American families do just that.

The Wo’ohitike Collaborative, a new initiative from the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board, intends to raise awareness about the dangers of domestic/intimate partner sexual assault, and the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people. Funding for the program is provided through an Indian Health Service Grant awarded to the Health Board last May.

Wo’ohitike Program Director Brooke Pond, a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a graduate of Pine Ridge High School and Black Hills State University, with a master’s degree from South Dakota State University, believes this vital work will help improve health outcomes for Native American families in western South Dakota.

Through a partnership with Native Women’s Health Care (NWHC), the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board, and the Oyate Health Center, the Wo’ohitike Collaborative is intended to help Native people gain better access to forensic healthcare services, education, training, and resources for American Indians in the Black Hills Area and surrounding communities in western South Dakota, according to Pond.

The program will work to foster relationships with local, state, and federal organizations to develop Sexual Assault Response Teams to improve response services. Additionally, the collaborative will train Oyate Health Center medical personnel and partner with the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Native Women’s Health program to offer sexual assault medical forensic examinations, forensic interviewing, and advocacy for survivors.

Who Should Attend:

Anyone over the age of 18.
Male, female, and two-spirit relatives.
Anyone who wants to learn about:
- Dealing with and moving through historical trauma in a good way.
- Utilizing culture to heal.
- Creating and developing healthy relationships in all aspects of their lives.

The Wo’ohitike Collaborative will build an enhanced referral service network and implement culturally appropriate, trauma-informed approaches to affect survivors’ positive outcomes and well-being.