About Resource Directory
The NACDI Resource Directory is a directory of Indigenous and Indigenous-facing resources, businesses, programs, and opportunities. It was created with support from the Minnesota Department of Health and with constant, direct feedback from members of our community (read more about our community engagement process here). It is a living site, which means it can be constantly updated to fit the needs of the Indigenous community in the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
About the categories:
Inspired by the eight dimensions of wellness, our team wanted to find a more holistic and Indigenous way to categorize resources, businesses, and organizations available. NACDI’s Resource Directory was influenced largely by the First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness developed by the First Nations Health Authority.
This perspective focuses on different areas of life that affect the health of an individual. We know from experience, and the research backs up, that someone who has access to a variety of culturally specific resources has better health outcomes than those who don’t.
We have divided all of the resources into thirteen categories: mental support, emotional support, spiritual support, physical support, land and water, community, family, nations, social, shelter, cultural, economic, and emergency support.
Mental Support
This includes all aspects of a person’s mental life. From mental health to education, this category includes access to ways to enrich a person mentally.
Emotional Support
Emotional support resources uplift and aid in a person’s emotional wellbeing. Things in this category can include addition and recovery information, harm reduction, and behavioral and mental health. Due to the holistic nature of health, this category may share a lot of overlap with mental support.
Spiritual Support
Spiritual support resources provide resources for a community member’s spiritual health. Many things can affect spiritual wellbeing, like access to ceremonies. This category includes access to midewiwin or spiritual leaders, and places of worship.
Physical Support
Physical support is a broad category that encompasses many aspects of a person’s physical wellbeing. This category includes medical clinics, fitness opportunities, and gyms, but also features disability support, personal care support, and things like body work (massage therapy).
Land and Water
Land and water sustain us physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. This category includes community organizations that work to maintain strong relationships with the land and water around us.
Community
Community represents the people where we live, where we come from, and where we work. This category includes community organizations as well as places for community support to take place, like funerals or deathcare.
Family
Family is our support base, and is where we come from. Resources in this category include things that support strong families, like youth and elder programming, programs for new parents, and foster care support.
Nations
Along with being citizens of the world, nation, and state, many in our community are citizens of sovereign Indigenous nations. This category connects community members with resources they may need to engage with their political nations and states.
Social
Social wellness refers to your experience and relationships with other people and with the systems you are in. This category includes social workers, community coalitions, and communications support.
Shelter
The shelter category includes long and short-term housing, construction companies, and any other resource that provides shelter and housing support. Like all categories, this can be both relief and business oriented.
Cultural
Cultural categories include language, spirituality, ceremonies, art, traditional foods and medicines, and teachings. It includes all things that revitalize, educate, and connect people to their cultures.
Economic
Many in our community have been excluded from economic opportunities. Resources that provide support like transportation, work programs, scholarships and awards, legal aid, and Indigenous-serving banks are included in this category.
Emergency Support
Some folks looking for resources are looking for crisis-based or immediate help. This category includes crisis services, from hotlines, places to report abuse or misconduct, who to contact when a relative goes missing, or immediate relief needs like food.