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IHS Awards $449,360 in Grants to Support Urban Indian Organizations
The Indian Health Service Office of Urban Indian Health Programs recently awarded grants totaling $449,360 to two urban Indian organizations through the 4-in-1 grant program. These grants will make health care services more accessible for American Indians and Alaska Natives residing in urban areas and support operations at urban health care facilities.
The following urban Indian organizations received funding:
- Native American Lifelines – Baltimore, Maryland – $200,000
- South Dakota Urban Indian Health – Sioux Falls, South Dakota – $249,360
"The 4-in-1 grant program continues to partner with urban Indian organizations to ensure comprehensive, culturally appropriate health care services are available and accessible for the urban Indian population,” said IHS Director Roselyn Tso. “We are excited to welcome two additional organizations to address the health care needs of our urban Indian communities."
Funding provided through the 4-in-1 grant program will be used to support four health program areas: health promotion and disease prevention services; immunization services; alcohol and substance abuse related services; and mental health services. These programs are integral components of the IHS health care delivery system and the grant funding will benefit thousands of urban Indian patients. In FY 2022, IHS awarded more than $8.3 million to 32 UIOs across the country through the 4-in-1 grant program, now bringing the total to 34 awards in the amount of $8.7 million.
The IHS Office of Urban Indian Health Programs was established in 1976 to make health care services more accessible to urban Indians. IHS enters into limited, competing contracts and grants with 41 urban Indian nonprofit organizations to provide health care and referral services for urban Indians throughout the United States. Urban Indian organizations define their services based upon the service population, health status, and documented unmet needs of the urban Indian communities they serve. Urban Indian organizations provide health care services for urban Indians who do not have access to the resources offered through IHS or tribally operated health care facilities because they do not live on or near a reservation.
Recent studies on the urban American Indian and Alaska Native population documented poor health and revealed that the lack of adequate health care was a serious problem for most families. Since 1972, the IHS has gradually increased its support for health-related activities in off-reservation settings to assist American Indians and Alaska Natives in gaining access to available health services and developing direct health services when necessary.
The IHS, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2.7 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 574 federally recognized tribes in 37 states. Follow the agency via social media on Facebook , Twitter , and LinkedIn .
