As one of the top three hot spots for per-capita COVID-19 cases in the country, the Navajo Nation is faced with myriad challenges during this pandemic. An estimated 30 percent of residents do not have access to clean water and an estimated 60,000 residents do not have access to power. School closures have pushed 46,000 children learning from the classroom to the home, where school supplies are sparse.
Together with Heart of America, Real Salt Lake (RSL) Foundation, Navajo photographer and activist, Mylo Fowler, and other key partners, SRE is providing free resources to support critical needs in water, energy, and learning resources for Navajo Nation families. The Education Resource Packs distributed will provide a lifeline to thousands of students and their families during a multi-phase response.
Through the first three phases of the PowerUp program, 1,425 students at 8 schools in the San Juan School District in Navajo Nation, Utah; 1,673 students at 6 schools in the Tuba City Unified School District in Navajo Nation, Arizona and First Mesa Elementary School in the Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona; and 1,262 students at 8 schools in New Mexico plus hospitals in Shiprock, Crownpoint and Gallup received education kits and supplies. [Photos by Laura Deardon]
Through the first three phases of the PowerUp program, 1,425 students at 8 schools in the San Juan School District in Navajo Nation, Utah; 1,673 students at 6 schools in the Tuba City Unified School District in Navajo Nation, Arizona and First Mesa Elementary School in the Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona; and 1,262 students at 8 schools in New Mexico plus hospitals in Shiprock, Crownpoint and Gallup received education kits and supplies. [Photos by Laura Deardon]