Sharing a Love for Learning with the Next Generation

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

My mom-in-law, Dottie Morin, has always had a passion for reading and learning, and has shared this passion with her children, grandchildren, and students throughout her life. Although she retired from teaching in 2006, she knew she wanted to become involved in some way with early literacy programs to continue to share her love for books with others. While reading a feature story about the Born to Read program in the Beaufort Gazette, she became intrigued with their mission, so she volunteered at a local birthing center. Dottie’s energy and enthusiasm earned the recognition of the Board, and after two years volunteering, she became a valued Board member, and is now serving her first year as the Chairman of the Board.

The Born to Read program currently has 30 volunteers who are trained to visit new parents in local hospitals the day after their baby is born to educate them on the importance of reading to their child. The parents are given a gift bag with new books and various literacy materials. Their statistics are incredible! Their volunteers visited over 2,200 new mothers in 2010, 30% of which were military families. Their mission statement “to lay the foundation for academic success” continues to guide the organization in all that they do.

Supporting Tribal Nations through Comprehensive Engagement & Investment

Ed. Note: This post has been cross-posted from usdoj.gov.

In line with Attorney General Holder’s commitment to enhancing public safety in Indian Country, Assistant Attorney General Tom Perrelli announced grants totaling $118.4 million to support law enforcement practices and sustain crime prevention and intervention efforts.

Tribal governments received awards in areas including public safety and community policing; methamphetamine enforcement; justice systems and alcohol and substance abuse; corrections and correctional alternatives; violence against women; elder abuse; juvenile justice; and tribal youth programs. 

“This year, we encouraged comprehensive safety planning– because we know innovative and holistic approaches work,” said Perrelli, who made the announcement at the department’s Four Corners Indian Conference in Ignacio, Colorado.

Making Progress for Indian Country

Working to fulfill President Obama’s commitment to create jobs and improve the quality of life for Native American communities, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation are working to provide safe and reliable water supplies across Indian Country as we aggressively implement an unprecedented number of Indian water rights settlements. To achieve the goals we have with our Tribal partners, major water infrastructure is being developed with the potential to create thousands of jobs throughout the development and construction of these important projects.

Since our first days in office, the Obama Administration has been strongly supportive of Indian water rights settlements. With the leadership of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, we have supported resolution of the Navajo-San Juan River claims in New Mexico, endorsed a settlement for the Duck Valley Reservation in Nevada and Idaho, and worked to enact four new settlements at the end of last year as part of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010.  This support for Indian water rights settlements is unprecedented – six settlements in the last two years – but we also recognize that there is a lot more work to do.

In July, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar met with more than 200 members of the Crow Nation to celebrate the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement. The pact will bring more than $460 million to the reservation to ensure safe drinking water and rehabilitate the Tribe’s irrigation project. (Photo from DOI by Tami Heilemann)