Copyright © 2004 NLThomas
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News from Cherokee Nation
Copyright © 2004 CNO
KANSAS, OKLAHOMA – Irene Qualls of Nicut, Oklahoma, found herself with a broken refrigerator and worrying about more important contents going bad than milk, meat and vegetables.
Irene Qualls and her son, Huck, happily show off the new refrigerator delivered to their home by the Cherokee Nation 
What do you do if you wake up on Saturday morning, reach into your freezer for ice cubes and pull out a tray of water instead of ice? You check your frozen food and find that your vegetables, meat and frozen strawberries have thawed; the milk and other perishable items in the refrigerator have gone bad and the temperature inside your refrigerator is barely cool instead of crispy cold. It hits you; your refrigerator has gone out and you are left with finding a way to pay for a new refrigerator.
Qualls’ son, Cecil Jr., or Huck as he’s known to his friends, is an insulin-dependent diabetic. He receives insulin injections to maintain his insulin level and his medication must be refrigerated. Without the medication, he could suffer severe medical complications.
“I didn’t know what to do about Huck’s insulin,” said Qualls. “We got an ice chest and tried to save everything we could.”
A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Qualls called the Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation the following Monday morning to see if they could help her get a refrigerator. But, the Emergency Fund which normally pays for emergency items, such as refrigerators, was out of money. Fortunately, David Thorton, Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Member for District 3 was in the office when Qualls’ call came in.
“The Tribal Council recently appropriated $165 thousand dollars for a Tribal Emergency Assistance Fund to help meet emergency needs like Mrs. Qualls was having,” Thorton said. “ I called the Human Service staff member that works on emergencies and she said they would get right on it and they did.”
Cindy Martin of the Cherokee Nation Redbird Smith Health Center received the referral from the Cherokee Nation’s Human Services department and within hours had a plan to help the Qualls family obtain a refrigerator. However, Martin hit a bump in the road that could have stalled the entire process.
“Families must meet financial eligibility guidelines before they can participate in the Tribal Emergency Assistance Program,” Martin said. “Mrs. Qualls didn’t have any documentation to show her family’s monthly income. We were at a standstill. Then, we realized that the Food Distribution Program had the necessary information we needed to help Mrs. Qualls.”
George Byrd, also employed by the Redbird Smith Health Clinic and a Cherokee speaker, was able to coordinate with the Cherokee Nation Food Distribution program and Qualls to get the information the health center needed. Within a few hours, Martin had everything she needed and the refrigerator was ordered.
“I am so thankful to the Cherokee Nation for getting us the refrigerator,” said Qualls. “I didn’t know what I was going to do if Cherokee Nation couldn’t help me. They worked it out and got a refrigerator delivered to my house first thing in the morning.”
According to Thornton, this is just one of the Tribal Emergency Assistance success stories.
“We practice ‘ga-du-gi’ at Cherokee Nation. Ga-du-gi means working together. That’s exactly what happened. One Cherokee family needed help and our employees all got together to find a way to help them. It started with the Housing Authority, went to Human Services, then on to Health Services, Food Distribution, back to Health Services and we got a refrigerator delivered to our family. That’s what it’s all about, everyone working together for the good of another.”
For more information about the Tribal Emergency Assistance Program, you may contact your Tribal Council member or Cherokee Nation Human Services, phone: 918-456-0672 (ext.2552).
| Related Cherokee Nation contact information: |
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Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org
Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager |
Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org
Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation |