Copyright © 2006 NLThomas
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News from the Cherokee Nation, OK
Copyright © 2006 CNO
TAHLEQUAH, OK - The Cherokee Nation recently made a $20,000 donation to Zoë Institute, Inc., a single mom resource center located in Tahlequah. Founded to improve the overall quality of life of individuals, Zoë’s unique Single Mom Resource Center (SMRC) was established to assist women, whether widowed or divorced, raise their children, take care of their homes and automobiles and learn financial independence.
The Cherokee Nation recently donated $20,000 to Zoë Institute, Inc., a resource center founded to improve the overall quality of life of single mothers. Pictured l-r: Tribal Councilor Audra Smoke-Connor, Rhonda Clemons, Tribal Councilor Bill John Baker, and Tribal Councilor Don Garvin. 
Zoë is a Greek word that means “higher life” or “spiritual life” and “life the way it was intended to be.”
Three Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilors also made individual donations of $250 each, for an additional donation of $750, to the Zoë Institute. Bill John Baker, Audra Smoke-Connor and Don Garvin joined forces to bring these needed funds to the institute.
“My wife and I personally support Zoë. I am happy Cherokee Nation can be part of the community to fill this need,” said Baker, District 1 Tribal Councilor.
Smoke-Connor, also a District 1 Tribal Councilor, said she was “glad to be able to assist an organization that is there to help those most in need.”
“It is a great feeling to help such a terrific effort. I wish them Godspeed and hope they touch many people spiritually and physically,” said Garvin, District 4 Tribal Councilor.
The Zoë Institute offers multiple services to single mothers, including the Hands of Grace Warehouse, which once a month provides common household cleaning items and paper products, clothing, shoes and toys, and some furniture and appliances; monthly distribution of food boxes, which can be purchased for a fraction of their value; DivorceCare, a 13-week divorce recovery program; Safe Relationships, a course that teaches women how to make good relationship choices; PREP, premarital and marriage education courses; 24/7 Dad, a fatherhood accountability course; various Single Mom Seminars such as car care clinics, mortgage clinics, smoking cessation clinics, and basic life skills courses; and access to a smorgasbord of counseling and professional services.
“This donation is huge. I am speechless,” said Rhonda Clemons, executive director of the Zoë Institute. “It is so rewarding to see the community come together and to see Cherokee Nation be part of the community.”
Current statistics show that single mothers are currently raising 58 percent of all children in Cherokee County. For more information on the center, go online to www.zoeinstitute.us.
| 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 |