A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the EBCI IDD Enrichment Center on Aug. 26 at the Old DaVita Dialysis Center. The project is scheduled to be complete in about one year. (BROOKLYN BROWN BIGMEAT/One Feather photos)
By BROOKLYN BROWN BIGMEAT
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 26 at the Old DaVita Dialysis Center in Cherokee, N.C., for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Enrichment Center.
Dallas Bennett, a member of the EBCI and constituent services representative for the Office of the Vice Chief, gave an opening prayer.
Sonya Wachacha, EBCI Secretary of Public Health and Human Services (PHHS), gave a project overview. “It’s a promise to our community that everybody needs a place to belong no matter their ability and no matter their function. We appreciate everybody being here today. We want to thank the partners. We want to thank Cherokee Indian Hospital. We want to thank the Chief’s Office. We want to thank Tribal Council for being here. This place is going to be transformed into a new place. It was one type of place of healing. It’s going to be transformed into another place of healing where people can access resources, they can access referrals, they can get their screenings and assessments. They don’t have to drive an hour away or more. And to our community members, to those who have advocated for this and listened to us and trusted us, this space is for you, this building is for you, and I promise that we will always care for you.”
Daniel and Treat Tramper share their appreciation for the newest steps toward the EBCI IDD Enrichment Center at the groundbreaking ceremony held Aug. 26.
EBCI Taline Ugvwiyu (Vice Chief) Alan B. Ensley gave remarks, “Like Sonya said, this was a healing place. It took years to get the Dialysis Center in place, and seems like every real need that we have, we’ve got to kick it around. Tribal Council has to kick it around, but eventually we get to where we need to be with taking care of our people. Sometimes it’s slower than we’d hoped for, but we always get there. So, I know this is going to be a great project. I appreciate Casey [Cooper]’s work and everybody involved in getting this started, but it will be another great project.”
EBCI Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks added, “Again, I want to thank Tribal Council for supporting this capital project and making sure that we have the resources…I want to thank Sonya—you and your team—for your leadership…And, Candy Ross, I want to thank you for being not just the person who you are and being passionate about our community, but this is a service that you have played such a huge part in. And I know we can’t do things by ourselves, but I’m very appreciative of you and what you’ve given to this concept and continue to push us leaders and help us to better understand and help us to listen to what this priority means…I also want to thank Caesars and Brian Marsh for your leadership…We thank you guys for stepping up and again, helping us on this project.”
Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos and Caesars Entertainment donated $1 million to the project.
Candy Ross, a member of the EBCI, IDD assistant director at Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority (CIHA), and Autism Support Group leader for Jackson, Swain, and the Qualla Boundary, gave remarks. “Thank you all for coming out today in support of our new EBCI IDD Autism Enrichment Center. Today, we are creating opportunities, strengthening our community, and investing in a brighter future. Before joining CIHA, I had the privilege of serving our community through work focused on supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism. That work gave me the opportunity to advocate for individuals and families while also listening to those who have spent years working to ensure their loved ones have access to the services, opportunities, and support they deserve. That experience showed me how deeply committed our Tribe is to this population. Each small step forward we have made over the years, from getting staff the training and certifications they need to best care for this population, to starting support groups with partners like the Autism Society of North Carolina, was a reminder of how our Tribal leadership has continued to recognize that individuals with IED and autism deserve more services. They deserve opportunities to learn, grow, connect, and fully participate in their communities. Today is about so much more than just breaking ground. To kick off the renovations this building needs, you get another demonstration of our Tribe’s commitment to creating a community where every person is valued, supported, and given the opportunity to thrive. I’m honored to be part of that work and incredibly excited for what comes next. Today, we break ground. Tomorrow, we change lives.”
Casey Cooper, CIHA chief executive officer, added, “Thank you, Candy. We’re incredibly fortunate to have such a relentless advocate like Candy on our team to compliment incredible people like our IDD/Autism Director Paige Epley-Williams, and CIHA’s Director of Behavioral Health Dr. Freida Saylor, who couldn’t be here today. And of course, EBCI PHHS Secretary and member of the hospital governing board Sonya Wachacha. As they work with our longtime partners at Cancer Collaborative Resources to make this project happen, Candy Ross did not come to the hospital and then discover a passion for serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism. She came to us after years of already doing this work on behalf of Cherokee children and families. Through her work with Qualla Boundary Head Start and Early Head Start, Candy saw firsthand what families were experiencing. She listened to parents and caregivers. She helped connect families with resources. She helped build the Jackson, Swain, Qualla Boundary Autism Support Group and was instrumental in organizing Cherokee’s first Autism Celebration to create opportunities to come together for families who sometimes felt isolated, so they can now find resources and know that they are not alone and know that we see you.”
Candy Ross gives remarks at the IDD Enrichment Center Groundbreaking held Aug. 26.
Cooper continued, “Candy didn’t stop at raising awareness. That would have been the easy thing to do. Instead, she joined other families in this community like Daniel and Treat [Tramper], who wanted to do more to advocate for individuals with IDD and autism in our community. They made sure these conversations were brought before Tribal Council and then they worked alongside Tribal leadership, EBCI, PHHS and community partners, and it was through their advocacy and the hard work of these families that they began asking the much bigger question of what would it look like if Cherokee built a better system to support our own people? That distinction is important because what we are here today to celebrate absolutely did not happen overnight and it did not happen because of one organization or one person or one small thing. The ball that families and caregivers in this community like Candy and Daniel and Treat got rolling led our Tribal leadership to recognize that there are individuals in our community traveling hours away from home to find services, if they can find those needed services at all.”
Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) representatives Bo Crowe (Wayohi, Wolftown) and Michael Stamper (Aniwodihi, Painttown) expressed appreciation for Daniel and Treat Tramper who host an annual Halloween celebration at their home for children and adults with IDD and autism that serves their needs in ways other EBCI Halloween events have not.
Rep. Stamper said, “This event came about not because there wasn’t something being done for the community—there was—but this Halloween trick-or-treat event that we had on Tribal land over here at the Ceremonial Grounds and also at the Old High School, these events were great, but for individuals that weren’t able to get around and have ease of access to these types of events, [Daniel] just felt like there was something being left out for a specific part of the community. So, Daniel took it upon himself to create this event…If you haven’t been to that event, please attend. It is absolutely wonderful. It really opened my eyes to the community that we weren’t serving that need for and that’s why this has come about. So, I’m very grateful to be here. I’m very grateful to see this come to fruition, and I want to say that hopefully this is not the end goal. It’s just the first step in a long line of amenities that we can offer this community that has now come to light and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
Tramper shared remarks, “We just want to let everybody know how grateful we are that you guys are creating this for us because when we started out—our son is 30 years old now—we went to Winston-Salem, to Duke, to Chapel Hill. We had to go to all these places from Asheville all the way down to basically Raleigh and back. So, we’re really glad that the future kids that we’re going to have don’t have to travel as far.”
Tramper said they are adding a building at their home for the Halloween celebration to meet the growing party list.
EBCI Project Management Manager Rebecca Bowe said they plan to have the center open in about one year.
