District 11, June 2024

Halito,

Congratulations to all the students that completed their educational goals in May and I wish you the best in your future plans! It is a busy time of the year and we’ve had several events in District 11 the past several months. I would like to share some of these with you and let you know what is coming up in June and July.

First, we crowned our new District 11 Princesses in April, congratulations to Little Miss Leigha Scott, Jr. Miss Jordyn Washington and Sr. Miss Alexis Futischa. All the contestants had a great pageant and performed extremely well. Let’s go to the Labor Day princess pageant and support Leigha, Jordyn and Alexis. All three will be excellent representatives for District 11 for the next year.

Also, in April I attended the quarterly Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes in Thackerville. These meetings are where we learn what other tribes are doing and work with them to bring more opportunities to serve our people. One of the most rewarding events I have been to was the Adult Education Graduation ceremony in Durant April 19. I really enjoyed being able to experience the excitement of our tribal members who obtain a GED diploma and to see how proud their families were of them.

One of the best programs we initiated with the ARPA funding was the Elder (55 and older) and Disability food security program. It’s been such a blessing to our members who received this food card, and we announced in April the program has been extended thru October of 2025. You can apply starting July 30, the only change will be an income limit for members between 55-74 years of age; individual income must be less than 40K to qualify. New food cards begin in October 2024. This will be the last year for the program as the ARPA dollars we use to fund these programs will be exhausted.

Quality housing continues to be a need for tribal members in our reservation and District 11. I’m excited that we will be building 20 LEAP (lease to own) and 30 Affordable Rental Homes in Hartshorne and Alderson this year. We also have Independent Elder housing in Savanna and Hartshorne. If you know of someone that would be interested, please have them apply on the Choctaw Nation website or pick up and application at the community center.

Our senior’s Wednesday meal is open to all CDIB holders and their spouses. We have a great group of people who come to visit, eat, and be involved in all the activities. They have a bake sale every second Wednesday and, on the third Wednesday, a silent auction with a nice collection of items always up for bid; these are fundraisers for trips they plan during the year. On June 20, we will have a veteran appreciation meal for our senior veterans.

As always, it is an honor to be the councilman for the wonderful people of District 11. If I can help you or your family in any way, please let me know.

Yakoke, Chihowa vt Achukma! (God is Good)