Urban Indigenous Collective (UIC) is an Indigenous led and staffed nonprofit organization that builds community with Indigenous people living in Lenapehoking (New York City) and the tri-state area.
We work to educate the public regarding the ongoing public health issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Trans and Two Spirit (MMIWGT2S) people along with providing health resources local to the Lenapehoking area for the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis. Currently we are preparing to open a community center in 2022 that will be a resource center and gathering space specifically for Indigenous people.
Indigenous organizations are one of the most underfunded entities (Candid, Native Americans in Philanthropy, 2019). Less than 0.4% of philanthropic dollars fund Indigenous organizations, because of this our nonprofits look to community to help us fund our work. This is also why currently:
- Lenapehoking lacks spaces for Indigenous people.
- UIC is raising money to provide our community with a quality resource center and space for Indigenous people to congregate, practice our culture, and receive community resources in Lenapehoking.
- A portion of donated funds will be used to support our staff.
- Indigenous-led nonprofits like ours rely on qualified members of our own community to do the work we do. We believe that our employees deserve to make a true wage based on their professional, caregiving, community organizing, and cultural knowledge/experience. We pay them as such.
Citations
"Investing in Native Communities: Philanthropic Funding for Native American Communities and Causes." Native Americans in Philanthropy and Candid Report 09/12/2019.