Grantee: Chief Seattle Club
Timeframe: July 2024 – June 2027 | Amount: $600,000
- Year 1: July 2024 – June 2025 | Amount: $200,000
- Year 2: July 2025 – June 2026 | Amount: $200,000
- Year 3: July 2026 – June 2027 | Amount: $200,000
Chief Seattle Club (CSC) is implementing an Indigenous Model of Traditional Wellness to support American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people experiencing homelessness in Seattle and King County. Native communities continue to experience significant health disparities rooted in historical and systemic oppression, with disproportionately high rates of homelessness, substance use, and mental health challenges. Although AI/AN people represent a small share of the overall population, they account for 32% of people experiencing chronic homelessness and 15% of the total homeless population in King County.
In 2023, CSC shifted its behavioral health approach to center Indigenous healing practices rather than traditional Western models. This led to the creation of a Traditional Wellness team, including Traditional Mental Health Workers, a Staff Wellness Manager, and an Art Coordinator. Led by the Chief Traditional Officer, the team provides relationship-based support through talking circles, sweat lodges, drum groups, Red Road to Wellbriety groups, memorials, smudging ceremonies, hospital visits, and one-on-one cultural support. Rather than relying on scheduled appointments, Traditional Mental Health Workers engage members through culturally grounded interactions that have increased participation by 288% since implementation.
Since receiving PHPDA funding, CSC has expanded Traditional Wellness across all sites, making the Wellbriety program a trusted pathway for substance use recovery and integrating culturally grounded healing into Gender Based Violence, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault services. Relationship-based care continues through outreach, wellness check-ins, meal deliveries, home visits, care packages, and end-of-life support. CSC has also strengthened its data collection by establishing a 20-minute minimum for one-on-one sessions, ensuring reported encounters reflect meaningful engagement.
These improvements are guided by CSC’s Cultural Operations Improvement Process, which combines operational data with community feedback to continuously improve services while maintaining cultural integrity.
In Year 3, Traditional Wellness will fully transition into the Programs Department, strengthening coordination with case management and other services. Staff will continue providing cultural activities, ceremonies, and one-on-one support across the Day Center and housing sites while expanding staff training, improving service coordination, and ensuring culturally grounded healing remains central to CSC’s growing behavioral health program.
ABOUT OUR GRANTEE
Chief Seattle Club
“Chief Seattle Club is a 501(c)(3) registered organization dedicated to physically and spiritually supporting American Indian and Alaska Native people. At our Day Center in the Pioneer Square district of downtown Seattle, we provide food, primary health care, housing assistance, legal services, a Native art job training program, and opportunities for members to engage in cultural community-building.
We are a housing and human service agency that provides basic needs for our members, many of whom are experiencing homelessness. Native people in urban areas face unique challenges, and Chief Seattle Club embraces the Indigenous cultures, languages, and traditions of our members as the primary method for healing and transformation.
We provide sacred space to nurture, affirm, and strengthen the spirit of urban Native people.”
