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Native News
Chandra Colvin

Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center celebrates 40 years

Jo-Anne Stately of the White Earth Nation listens to speakers.
Jo-Anne Stately of the White Earth Nation, center, listens to speakers at the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center before walking in the Indigenous Women's March in Minneapolis.
Christine T. Nguyen | MPR News 2019

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The Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, or MIWRC, celebrated its 40th anniversary this week in Minneapolis. The center was established in 1984 out of a need for addiction treatment centers that focused on care for Native women in Minnesota. 

Since its founding, the nonprofit has expanded its offerings with services and programs such as support groups, family services and housing assistance.  The center’s mission is to empower Native women and their families.  

“Healing is at the heart of everything we’re doing,” said CEO Ruth Buffalo. The programs the center offers are committed to traditional ways of providing support rooted in cultural values. 

Buffalo said their leadership is grounded in the community and the community’s desire to help fellow members through hardships that are seen in Native communities such as addiction and violence.  

Two people in red and one person in black stand on a stage
Ruth Buffalo, a former North Dakota House of Representatives member and enrolled citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, addresses attendees at the East Phillips Park Community Center before a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives March.
Tim Evans for MPR News | 2023

“I believe MIWRC continues to stand as a true pillar in the community,” Buffalo said, “I think of it as place where people can come and get nurturing, get loved, get their basic needs met and continue to thrive from there.” 

One program that the center offers is emergency housing, which Buffalo said is often the most used program that is offered. Emergency housing is located on the top two floors of the center’s building.

Currently there are 14 units available but plans to expand to 24 units are in the works. Among the 24 units, four will be permanent housing for those with disabilities.  

Buffalo says construction is planned to start in late October and will open in July 2025. 

MIWRC was recently presented with recognition from Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for leading 40 years of culturally grounded services and programming. 

“We are here to serve the community. Our doors are open, and we’ll continue to help the best way we can,” Buffalo says.  

A photo shows the building
The Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center in Minneapolis is celebrating 40 years.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News 2023