“If we can dream it, we can do it”
“If we can dream it, we can do it”
amesseng
Alumna Cheri Goodwin and the Red Lake Nation
In 2012, Cheri Goodwin’s life was at a crossroads. She had a bachelor's degree in social work from Bemidji State University and was working as a social worker, but she knew if she obtained a master’s degree she could take on leadership positions that would serve her family, her friends, and the Red Lake Nation. Eventually, she decided to make an investment in herself and her community and enrolled at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) to continue her education.
Goodwin remembers the inspiring professors at UMD. One of her favorites was Kathy Heltzer. “On our first day of class, she said to us, ‘I have something none of you have,’” recalls Goodwin, “...a master’s degree of social work (MSW).”
In a few years, thought Goodwin, I, too, will have my MSW. That inspired her.
Whether through the classroom or the department’s involvement with community engagement projects like 'Raising Healthy Anishinaabe Children–What Our Elders Say,' Heltzer and the other faculty at UMD “motivated us students to want to be the best at our profession,” said Goodwin.
While pursuing her degree, Goodwin continued her job as a social worker, driving from Bemidji to Duluth every week for school. “Classes started at nine, so I’d get up early,” she says. It was a lot to balance.
“One day, I was at my wit's end,” said Goodwin. “I was so tired from school, working at the nursing home, and taking care of my family, I pulled over on the highway and cried.”
She reached out to Professor Priscilla Day, who was then the director of the social work program. The two talked about history and breaking the intergenerational cycle. Despite the pressures, “Dr. Day encouraged me to stay with the program,” says Goodwin. “I did. Dr. Day guided me then and we still stay in touch today.”
In 2014, with her master's degree in social work in hand, Goodwin was ready to take on ever-increasing responsibilities.
Milestones at Red Lake
Just a few years later, Goodwin became the director of Family and Children Services for the Red Lake Nation. “The name of the program is now Ombimindwaa Gidinawemaaganinaadog,” she says. “It means, 'uplifting all our relatives.'” She works with tribal members living in the Twin Cities, in addition to members who reside on Red Lake tribal land in northern Minnesota.
Lately, she’s been leading a monumental task: spearheading the final construction of a $15.5 million Intergenerational wellness center on the shores of lower Red Lake. The center will provide a gathering space for community members and much more.
“We aim to provide resources that are culturally specific to help Indigenous people,” Goodwin said. Social workers and support personnel will assist people with building a better life. They’ll serve meals, but also teach cooking and preserving food, and offer personal care for the elderly and disabled. The center includes a large community room where people can gather and it has a children’s play area both inside and out. The outside playground features lifesize sculptures of woodland animals (representing Red Lake Band’s seven clans), while inside, traditional and modern art fill the halls.
“The center is a beautiful new building for intergenerational wellness,” says Goodwin.
Nearly a decade in the making, Goodwin’s work on the new center began in earnest in 2015 when she completed a strategic plan with a group of elders and Red Lake programming staff. The group formed its vision along with county, state, and federal lawmakers.
The Red Lake Band is now working with a special Bureau of Indian Affairs program to repurpose state and federal funding that is already coming to the Band. “We are designing programs and providing services with tribal culture and tradition in mind,” says Goodwin. As she and her colleagues work to improve their positive impact on the community, they’re looking to address current gaps and build on their successes.
One example is the strides they’ve made toward keeping families together. In the past, “when a family was under stress, agencies took children from their families and placed them in non-native homes,” Goodwin says. “That is no longer the case.” That’s something she’s very proud of, and Ombimindwaa Gidinawemaaganinaadog has plans to strengthen those efforts even further.
The new facility acts as a central hub for all that work. It’s the culmination of years of collaboration from within the Band and beyond. For Goodwin, it’s a homecoming. From inside, she can see the waters of Red Lake from nearly every window. “I was raised in a house down there by the lake,” she says, pointing through the glass of a large picture window. “I fished with my family lots of times. I helped pull up the nets from the lake. My life has come in a full circle.”
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