The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the latest numbers on overdose deaths across the country, and for Native Americans, the news underscores the crisis we face every day in our communities.
In the spring, we hold an annual memorial event to honor our lost Native relatives, some of whom overdosed. As we walk, we sing and celebrate together, joining in a ceremony to remember those who are no longer with us. Overdoses are a tragic reality that families, friends, and loved ones face across the country – and a tragedy that unfortunately affects our community.
Substance use disorders, mental health and homelessness affect Indigenous relatives at disproportionate rates. A new CDC report shows that while overdose deaths are down 5% nationally, in Washington, they are up 25% from 2022 to 2023. And, in King County, the highest overdose death rates are among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Substance use disorders are a problem made worse by not having stable housing. In our region, indigenous people represent less than 2% of the population, but in 2020 they represent 32% of the chronically homeless. This is compounded by a lack of behavioral health resources to deal with the generational trauma of government policies designed to exterminate us all or assimilate us into white culture.
The intersection of these crises is no coincidence. We know that our homeless relatives are at greater risk of developing substance use disorders and overdoses, often accompanied by untreated mental health disorders.
If we want to make real progress in addressing the opioid crisis, we must address the need for affordable housing with mental health and other support services.
The greatest and most lasting healing begins with a permanent home. I know this from my own experience with the homeless and through my work with homeless Seattle natives. Once people are settled, they are more stable. From there, we need more resources to offer services, care, health care and ceremonies.
However, in one of the country’s most developed economies, in a county that is home to the world’s richest people, service providers are living in a state of underfunding.
Urban Indian organizations are one of the chronically underfunded resources in our community. Although more than 70% of American Indians and Alaska Natives live in cities, funding from city, state and federal sources for urban Native services is insufficient to meet basic needs.
We know the solution is more resources for chronically underfunded urban Indian organizations and greater investment in culturally responsive care, housing and care. We are best placed to address substance use disorders in our own communities. Our native relatives are trusted; we have a shared experience. Many of our staff, like myself, have felt the damp cold of the pavement bed and the struggle to overcome addiction.
When our relatives came to the Chief Seattle Club for help, they knew that they were in a safe place where we knew. Indigenous people who are reluctant to enter non-Native spaces prefer to seek refuge and services in their own communities. What they offer is not just a safe haven, but a community that the city’s natives have lost. It is the safety of the community and the security of the home that helps relatives find a way out of trauma, poverty and isolation, to find success in healing, from opioid and alcohol addiction.
Beginning in 2022, the Chief Seattle Club has opened four permanent supportive housing facilities, totaling 339 units in King County. At the Salmonberry Lofts facility, 97% of residents by 2023 will keep their homes or move to permanent housing elsewhere.
While housing is not the solution to everything, without it people can engage in dangerous and risky behavior. It is the basis for recovery. The likelihood of sustained sobriety increases when people have a place to call home.