New cultural broker aims to help the Native American community on the path to healing

As the newest cultural broker to join M Health Fairview, Monique Nelson will help connect members of the Native American community to vital resources – ranging from  food access and housing support to health and spirituality.  

Navigating these services and the organizations that offer them is no challenge for Nelson – she grew up using them.  

A descendant of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe, Nelson grew up in St. Paul and attended the American Indian Magnet School and Century College. Helping her community has always been her passion. Before joining M Health Fairview, she worked as a parent mentor, helping people sign up for Early Childhood Family Education Classes and connecting them with psychologists and therapists. Her work as an cultural broker will involve similar advocacy.  

Now in its fifth year, the M Health Fairview cultural broker program was created to reduce the barriers to care that many communities face. These factors, called the social determinants of health, include race, income, housing, and food insecurity as well as access to health services. Cultural brokers are trusted members of the communities they serve, and they act as navigators for the complex systems surrounding public health – helping people get better access to the care they need to be well. 

Because the focus of the cultural broker program is meeting community members where they are, the role is flexible. But it’s always based on building a bridge of trust and rapport, said Keith Allen, the senior manager of community health programs with M Health Fairview.  

That’s why Nelson will work out of the American Indian Family Center in St. Paul, though her responsibilities may take her across the metro or to one of Minnesota’s 11 Native American reservations.  

Jessica Gourneau, the clinical director of the American Indian Family Center and a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, said that building trust within the community is an important aspect of all the work the center does. The center, which offers services and programs for the American Indian community addressing mental health, recovery, employment, housing, and more, is just one of several partner organizations Nelson will collaborate with in her work as a cultural broker. 

Gourneau noted that Minnesota has a terrible record when it comes to treatment of the Native American community. Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing for almost a century, Native children were removed from their biological parents and required to attend boarding schools. The problems caused by this system still echo today, with the scope and consequences of the schools under renewed scrutiny, including a federal investigation.  

Today, the percentage of Native American children in foster care in Minnesota is proportionally much higher than other groups in the state. In fact, Minnesota ranks worst in the nation in this measurement, according to the National Indian Child Welfare Association. 

The past and present traumas inflicted on the community have caused many to distrust local institutions, Gourneau said. This makes the cultural broker’s position as a connection point between M Health Fairview and the community even more important, Gourneau said, because they are working to rebuild that trust so that people can connect to the care they need.  

“Monique has already built up a huge level of trust in the community,” Gourneau said. “She lives a traditional life and is knowledgeable about the systems and familiar with advocacy.”   

Many people don’t have regular healthcare providers, Gourneau said. Instead, they rely on emergency room visits when things are dire. For communities with high rates of cardiac disease and diabetes, teaching people how to talk to doctors – and familiarizing medical professionals with Native culture – will be key.   

But physical health is only a part of it.  

Nelson noted that historical traumas and growing up disconnected from tradition have hurt the spiritual and mental health of the community. She wants to help people get back onto the path to healing by creating a comfortable space for them to open up in conversation or by connecting them with traditional ceremonies specific to their culture. 

“To me, it’s like food for my spirit to be able to help,” Nelson said. “Because we all need help. There’s not one person in this world that doesn’t.”