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HomeHealthNation officially opens state-of-the-art Counseling Center Complex

Nation officially opens state-of-the-art Counseling Center Complex

The new complex houses the state’s first tribally run adolescence primary residential treatment center in Oklahoma, and the only adolescent facility in the eastern side of Oklahoma

The Osage Nation held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Counseling Center Complex on July 22.

The ceremony included remarks from Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, Vann Bighorse, Congresswoman Jodie Revard and Si-Si A-Pe-Txa Chair Cindra Shangreau. Tours of the facilities were offered after the ceremony, as well as refreshments for guests.

“We are delighted that you could join us in celebrating this huge milestone in counseling services for the Osage Nation, our service to Native American families and the community in general,” said Mark Rogers the CEO of the Osage Nation Health System.

Standing Bear reflected on his time as an attorney and was thankful for the weather and the opportunity to have the counseling center to serve Native American families.

“Beyond all the work that you do with the individuals, the sensitivity of it, the crisis that goes on, the emotions that are involved, not only with the individual but with the parents, the grandparents, the family,” Standing Bear said. “Everyone around that is hurt by the scourge of substance abuse and alcoholism. I came into that world 50 years ago looking at it as a lawyer, and I learned over the years that it takes a lot more. It takes a system that is about the individual.”

Standing Bear tied his words of encouragement into tribal sovereignty and why it was important for the Osage Nation to have a program to serve Native Americans and work together to help others.

Congresswoman Jodie Revard speaks at the ribbon cutting ceremony about the intent for the new facilities and addressing the substance abuse, trauma and mental health issues plaguing the Osage people. ECHO REED/Osage News

“We have an opportunity to talk about self-governance, we talk about governing ourselves, we talk about supporting each other,” he said. “So we are going to strive to work together because we are talking about the most serious of issues. When we see people interpreting things differently, and trying to follow their rules, just remember let’s reach across the aisle and shake hands, and say ‘Let’s find out what’s good for the people.’”

Congresswoman Jodie Revard was a major advocate for the counseling center. She saw it as a need within the Osage Nation.

“This is a lot bigger than me,” Revard said. “I thought about it all weekend. I reached out to those suffering in my circle of recovery, to talk to them, to re-engage, just to humble myself a little more to see where we are, what I can do with my voice, because I didn’t stand here and do anything alone.”

Revard continued with her speech thanking God for the ways that he has blessed her during her healing process.

“When I walked up here, you know God puts things in place for all of us,” she said. “And I don’t believe in coincidence, only blessings. And I had to be taught that.”

The facility was funded through money from the American Rescue Plan Act. Former Congresswoman Angela Pratt was a supporter of Revard’s advocacy for a counseling center.

“When we received these ARPA dollars, we stayed up on the phone for hours while she [Angela] served, talking about this disease,” Revard said. “And how it affected our people, and how serious it was, and what we could do.”

Revard knew it would cost a lot of money and not everyone would agree with the development of a facility, but she and others who supported the construction of the facility never quit fighting for it.

“This is about life and death,” she said. “And I tell you that because I’m standing here alive. A lot of you walked with me on my journey and are still walking with me on my journey to stay alive.”

Revard offered words of encouragement for everyone involved or who has been touched by substance abuse, with hopes to use the facility to heal those who are struggling to heal.          

“This is a blessing, and God’s given it to us,” she said. “I ask that we all walk together and start healing as a community and as a people,”

Cindra Shangreau, Si-Si A-Pe-Txa chairwoman, made some remarks about the Native American mental health and substance abuse rates.

“Native American populations have disproportionately higher rates of substance abuse, PTSD and suicide than other ethnicities,” she said. “And those who do abuse substances tend to start younger and use heavier. Studies have found that the prevalence of substance abuse disorder increased by more than eight times from early to mid-adolescence.”

She noted multiple risk factors including historical trauma, loss of culture, poverty, lack of healthcare and services, and mental health issues.

“We will be the only tribally-run adolescence primary residential treatment center in Oklahoma, and the only adolescent facility in the eastern side of Oklahoma,” she said.

She described the different facilities on the campus and its primary purposes for healing and recovery.

“The new sober living home will offer opportunities to maintain sobriety, while providing safe and supporting transition back into mainstream society, lessening the probability of relapse,” she said. “The new counseling center will provide services including crisis intervention, child and adult family and counseling services, support groups, drug and alcohol assessment and anger management. All will be welcome and will be treated with dignity and cultural awareness. We strive for healthy minds, healthy bodies and healthy spirits.”

Osage Nation Health Systems CEO Mark Rogers makes remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony on July 22, 2024. ECHO REED/Osage News

Shangreau thanked everyone who was involved with the planning, construction and support for the facility.

Revard felt it was time to invest in substance abuse treatment for the Osage people.

“It was a need,” she said. “We could see it with arrests, with DUIs, folks that were getting drug charges, behavioral health issues, suicide attempts, things of that nature. It was just important that we step in, and we address this issue with our people the way we want to, and exercise our sovereign right to heal our people the way we want to.”

To view more photos from the ribbon cutting, visit the Osage News Flickr album at https://www.flickr.com/photos/osagenews/albums/72177720319074433/

Author

  • Collyn Combs

    Collyn Combs is a multimedia journalism student at Oklahoma State University. She is a member of the Osage Nation, and her family is from the Grayhorse district. Combs is from Ponca City, Okla., and attended school in Bartlesville, Okla., where she graduated in 2017. She served on the newspaper staff at Bartlesville High School from 2016-2017. She attended Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa after graduation and wrote for The Maverick newspaper from 2017-2020, and served as editor from 2018-2019. She currently lives in Stillwater, Okla., and is involved with O’Colly TV as the weather reporter, OSU Native American Student Association and is secretary for the Omega Phi Alpha National Service Sorority.

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Collyn Combs
Collyn Combshttps://osagenews.org
Collyn Combs is a multimedia journalism student at Oklahoma State University. She is a member of the Osage Nation, and her family is from the Grayhorse district. Combs is from Ponca City, Okla., and attended school in Bartlesville, Okla., where she graduated in 2017. She served on the newspaper staff at Bartlesville High School from 2016-2017. She attended Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa after graduation and wrote for The Maverick newspaper from 2017-2020, and served as editor from 2018-2019. She currently lives in Stillwater, Okla., and is involved with O’Colly TV as the weather reporter, OSU Native American Student Association and is secretary for the Omega Phi Alpha National Service Sorority.
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