Empowering Native Communities: NACC’s Commitment to Health, Culture, and Research
Serving the Native community for over two decades, the Native American Community Clinic (NACC) places indigenous culture, traditions, and language at the core of its work. NACC opened its doors in February 2003 to address the health disparities within the urban Native American community of the Twin Cities. Its work promotes the health and wellness of mind, body, and spirit for Native American families. Since 2003, NACC has continued to grow and offer services like behavioral health, dental care, harm reduction, medical and social services, spiritual care, and tribal health. Additionally, NACC’s Midwest Tribal ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes), launched in 2019, is a model of knowledge-sharing between healthcare providers to increase access to promising practices in addressing opioid use and other substance use disorders (OUD/SUD), infectious disease (HIV, HCV, and STIs) and related social/political determinants of health such as deep poverty, houselessness/unsheltered, from a culturally-centered framework.
In 2018, NACC adopted a new model of care, centered on reframing the patient-provider relationship by viewing the community it serves as relatives. According to Antony Stately, PhD, Executive Officer and President, NACC’s approach is to be “unapologetically Indigenous” while integrating the Western model around this framework. NACC provides more than 19,300 patient visits in primary medical, behavioral health, and dental care to more than 4,500 individuals each year, 73% of whom are American Indian. An estimated 75% of NACC’s patients fall below 100% of the federal poverty level.
This year, NACC is expanding clinic services and adding affordable housing through the development of a new building. The building will be constructed in the clinic's parking lot. Greiner Construction will oversee the development, which is scheduled to begin in spring 2025. The project is anticipated to take 14 to 16 months, and the building's opening is scheduled for September 2026. Dr. Stately shares his excitement about the construction project, emphasizing that NACC “embodies the Indigenous experience and identity throughout its current space.”
As NACC expands, he looks forward to placing the Indigenous experience and values at the forefront of the new building. This begins with NACC’s Community Engagement for Decolonizing and Advancing Research Center (CEDAR), which launched in January 2024. CEDAR is Minneapolis’ first Indigenous, community-based wellness research center. Its four pillars include “clinical areas of expertise, political determinants of health, cultural drivers of health and wellbeing, and community knowledge mobilization.”
CEDAR leases office space next to the clinic, and the plan is for CEDAR to remain in separate offices upon completion of the new building. CEDAR is in year one of a two-year capacity-building grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant was awarded to tribes and Native-serving organizations through the Native Collective Research Effort to Enhance Wellness (N CREW).
As part of their capacity-building strategy, CEDAR will seek to hire a research director, community liaisons, and support staff. CEDAR recently hired Ailee Krautkremer, formerly the C2DREAM BRAID Coordinator, as the Research and Grants Administrator. An Garagiola, CEDAR's Research Manager, looks forward to positioning CEDAR as a leading research institute focused on Indigenous health and services.
Passionate about equitable research practices, Garagiola explains, "It is important for Indigenous communities to reclaim research sovereignty. This includes acknowledging the harmful practices that Indigenous identities have previously experienced, reclaiming safe protocols, remaining humble, and supporting the community. At the forefront, supporting the safety and autonomy of the community and its involvement in research. Furthermore, positioning CEDAR as a leader in Indigenous research.”
NACC continues to partner with institutions and community organizations to ensure Native American voices are supported and heard. Their work with the University of Minnesota and C2DREAM includes two community of practices with the C2DREAM Community Engagement Core and with Project Building Relationships Around Indigenous Endurance (BRAID). Dr. Stately and Garagiola express their sincere gratitude to their partners, including the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Duluth Campus, C2DREAM, the University of New Mexico, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the Minnesota Cancer Trials Network, Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute, Mayo Clinic, Columbia University, Memory Keepers, and John Hopkins, among others.
Antony Stately earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in 1997. He is currently the Executive Officer and President of the Native American Community Clinic.
An Garagiola holds an Associate’s degree from Century College, bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Women's Studies from Hamline University, and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. She is a PhD student in American Studies at the University of Minnesota.
