Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley

The Indian Health Center’s Counseling Department is working to create better mental health outcomes for American Indian/Alaskan Native youth in Santa Clara County. The Surgeon General’s 2001 report on Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity stressed the essential importance of culture in designing behavioral programs and the value of community-based programs as an alternative to the psychiatric model. The IHC’s Counseling Department has programming for American Indian/Alaskan Native youth which provides cultural and traditional education in addition to western mental health support. Your donation will help to promote wellness and mental health for these youth.

San Jose Native Youth Empowerment Program

The SJNYEP is comprised of young Native youth ages 10-17yrs. The program provides case management services, peer support, cultural education, community connection and leadership opportunities. Native American traditions and values are incorporated into the curriculums to provide youth with effective interpersonal and social skills, respect,        self-worth, responsibility and wellness.

Dance & Drum Classes

Weekly classes are held at the Roosevelt Community Center. Instructors teach a variety of pow wow dance styles and various songs associated with each style. This is an opportunity for the community to come together and a time for reflection about our heritage and the beauty of our living culture. Basic steps and singing are taught as well as protocol, responsibility and care for the Drum and all things related. Classes are free and open to the public.

Cultural Arts

Cultural Arts Workshops offered are traditional Native American practices that have social uses and meanings that make them different from other arts: they strengthen the community and bind the people closely together and reinforce a sense of tribal identity. Community artists teach beadwork, sewing, quillwork, basketry and other forms of cultural expression.

Educational Support

The objective of the Educational Support staff is to encourage and empower students to believe they can achieve their academic goals and give them tools to meet those goals. Our Education Support Coordinator works directly with each student to customize each plan alongside the tutors. This program is open to American Indian/Alaskan Native and Indigenous Youth of Santa Clara County. Tutors are from local colleges in the area including DeAnza College, San Jose City College, San Jose State University and Stanford University.

Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley

The Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley (IHC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 1977 to provide medical, dental and counseling services to the American Indian community of Santa Clara Valley. Since 1993, the IHC has expanded its services and obtained Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) status. In May of 2004, the IHC received a three-year accreditation from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). The Center provides primary medical care, immunizations, community outreach, health education, mental health, alcohol and other substance abuse treatment, violence prevention, WIC and dental services, HIV testing, prenatal care, cancer prevention screening for women, nutrition, family education, and other social services. In early 2002, the IHC opened a new Wellness Center designed to promote healthy living by providing mental health, multiple prevention services, culturally specific activities and groups and an exercise gym.

Indian Health Center provides Medical services (preventative and primary care, immunizations, prenatal care, cancer prevention screening, chronic disease management); Counseling services (mental health, substance abuse treatment, substance abuse prevention); Nutrition services (WIC, nutrition education, medical nutrition therapy); and Dental services (full range of restorative, prosthetic, emergency care). In early 2002, the IHC started a wellness program designed to promote healthy living by providing mental health, multiple prevention services, culturally specific activities and groups, and an exercise gym. The program has grown and IHC now operates a Wellness Center in downtown San Jose that houses a state-of-the-art fitness facility, multiple health promotion/disease prevention services, and traditional AI/AN cultural activities and ceremonies. IHC is the only community clinic in Santa Clara County that has a Wellness Center and integrates a wellness approach in all its services.