Solution Overview & Team Lead Details
What is the name of your solution?
Innovating Ndn Country
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
Improving the quality of life across Indigenous communities by promoting wellness through a horticultural approach.
What specific problem are you solving?
Energy Food education economic opportunity for indigenous business
Food - Food disparities ( IGI, Giving away produce to other nonprofit, ecosystem rejuvenation(removing invasive species and planting traditional plant)(TRI can be in this one)) lack of food quality access
culturally ground education ( TRI)
What is your solution?
Our innovative solution to improve the quality of life across indigenous communities is by promoting wellness through a horticultural approach. Our organization’ services looks to promote the seven dimensions that make up wellness; Emotional Environmental, Intellectual, Occupational Physical, Social, & Spiritual .Our services consist of five programs Community Aqua Produce The Community Aqua Produce(CAP) program is a collaborative effort that improves the quality of life in indigenous communities by promoting wellness with the creation of food security. CAP’s purpose is to provide communities with preventative care that aims to combat generational health disparities such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, by offering nutritional support and nutritional education. More specifically, the Cap program promotes the physical dimension of wellness within indigenous communities by providing access to an alternative source of nutritional support in the form of fresh produce. The CAP program utilizes an innovative cultivation method known as, "aeroponics" to provide communities with access to locally grown produce. Community Garden Initiative The Community Garden Initiative(CGI) improves the quality of life in communities by reconnecting Indigenous people back to the land through developing locally sustainable community gardens. The community inspired program promotes the Emotional, Environmental, Intellectual, Physical, & Spiritual dimensions of wellness with innovative and traditional Indigenous permaculture practices. The CGI service provides; therapeutic support towards generational trauma, horticultural educational learning opportunities, healthy mental stimulation activities, nutritional education, and opportunities to reconnect traditional permaculture practices and life teachings. Indigenous Greengrocer Initiative The Indigenous Greengrocer Initiative(IGI) improves the quality of life in Indigenous communities by supporting economic development efforts and establishing local partnerships that provide additional access to affordable nutritional support. Our services promote the Occupational, Physical, & Social dimensions of wellness through establishing local greengrocers that offer an alternative source of fresh produce within a community. The IGI services offers communities access to an alternative source of fresh produce through the program’s cultivation efforts and local agricultural partnerships that help provide affordable nutritional support. The purpose of IGI is to address the economic adversity within communities by developing local food networks that provide employment opportunities, affordable nutritional support, and dependency on local producers and services. Indigenous Greens Cooking Show Indigenous Greens Cooking Show(IGCS) improves the quality of life throughout Indigenous communities by providing educational cooking tutorials that incorporate fresh produce into daily meals choices . The service promotes the Environmental, Intellectual, Occupational, & Physical dimension of wellness by releasing educational cooking tutorial episodes on our website and social media outlets. The purpose of IGCS is to address the generational health disparity of inadequate education regarding healthy lifestyles & nutrition. Traditional Root Initiative The Traditional Roots Initiative (TRI) is a holistic and culturally adaptable program designed to improve the quality of life in Indigenous communities by revitalizing traditional Indigenous plant-based knowledge systems and practices. TRI promotes all seven dimensions of wellness in a culturally adaptable way that works towards appropriately teaching Indigenous plant-based knowledge. TRI’s solution combats generational health disparities that impact Indigenous people by revitalizing and supporting traditional Indigenous plant-based practices and teachings.Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Innovative Indigenous Greens is a Native-led solution dedicated to effectively serving Indigenous people and their communities. Our organization identifies Indigenous people as enrolled members and/or descendants of a federally recognized tribe. While as for Indigenous communities, our organization identifies these areas by indigenous inhabitants rather than the location of the actual community to appropriately address generational health disparities that impact wellness. We look to impact the lives of Indigenous communities by providing culturally appropriate and adaptable services that adhere to each community’s needs.Which Indigenous community(s) does your solution benefit? In what ways will your solution benefit this community?
Our initial communities that we have begun to serve are located on the Blackfeet Reservation and Missoula, MT. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to understand each community's needs with directors residing in both communities. By understanding the day-to-day life in both communities, our organization has developed a solution that can be formatted to meet the necessary needs of any Indigenous community that we serve. Our solution looks to benefit these communities in a multitude of ways such as; providing food security that utilizes a sustainable cultivation method, improving wellness through horticulture, establishing direct access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and revitalizing Indigenous plant knowledge & practices.How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
We believe that our organization is well-positioned to deliver our solution, being that the majority of our team originates from Indigenous communities As a team, we've come to understand the needs and challenges of our respectful communities through first hand experiences that have provided us the chance to design and develop an innovative solution that’ll have the capability to be implemented across any Indigenous community. Our team has dedicated countless hours towards developing each program and service to be culturally adaptable. Our solution looks to advance community & economic development throughout Indigenous communities with the implementation of culturally appropriate Indigenous methodologies that adhere to standards and protocols of the target populations' tribal affiliations. We look to achieve this by developing community roundtable discussions that’ll offer community guidance and transparency within providing a culturally appropriate service.Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Promote culturally informed mental and physical health and wellness services for Indigenous community members.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Missoula
What is your solution’s stage of development?
Growth: An organization with an established product, service, or business model that is rolled out in one or more communities
How many people does your solution currently serve?
0-100
Why are you applying to Solve?
By applying to MiT's Indigenous Communities Fellowship program, our team seeks to overcome a variety of initial challenges and barriers that affect our solution's effort. Those specific challenges we hope to overcome are technical and financial barriers. Technical Assistance If selected, We hope MiT's Indigenous Communities Fellowship can also assist with providing technical assistance regarding augmenting our cultivation process within aeroponics. The Community Aqua Produce service aims to provide food security within Indigenous communities through the utilization of aeroponics. With the help of MiT, our organization looks to overcome the technical challenges in understanding agricultural science along with the access to innovative technology within the industry . By overcoming this challenge it'll also provide a basis to innovating the industry's practices through supporting potential groundbreaking research within the agriculture field. Financial Assistance Along with technical assistance, we hope the MiT’s Indigenous Communities Fellowship can help our organization overcome the difficulty in accessing the necessary financial capital needed. While understanding the majority of our communities we aim to serve currently experience impoverished conditions or do not have economic stability, we hope that through monetary support we can overcome the initial challenge of launching our services across Indigenous communities. Being that the majority of our organization's directors originate from such communities, we understand the first hand effects of generational poverty and the implications it puts on everyday life.Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Chase M. Comes At Night
How is your Team Lead connected to the community or communities in which your project is based?
Innovative Indigenous Greens’ team lead, Mr.Comes At Night, has independently created various connections of his own across North America prior to the creation of the organization. Currently, Mr.Comes At Night is connected to both communities Missoula, MT and the Blackfeet reservation in which the organization is based. Originally from the Blackfeet Reservation, the team lead consistently visits the area to see family and friends along with participating in social events across the community while living in Missoula, MT. Mr.Comes At Night is connected to the community of missoula through his leadership roles within the native community along with his higher education career at the University of Montana
More About Your Solution
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new application of an existing technology
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
If your solution has a website or an app, provide the links here:
https://www.innovativeindigenousgreens.org
In which parts of the US and/or Canada do you currently operate?
Great Plains- Montana
In which parts of the US and/or Canada will you be operating within the next year?
US- Northwest region, Southwest region, Great Plain,
Solution Team
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Chase Comes At Night Innovative Indigenous Greens nonprofit Organization
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Zachary Wagner Innovative Indigenous Greens
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Our Organization
Innovative Indigenous Greens