POLSON — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana has awarded a $29,000 Blue Impact grant to the Friends of the Children - Western Montana, which is based in Polson.
The grant supports its Flathead Nation Program, which serves Indigenous youth. The funding will help expand long‑term services that pair Indigenous youth with professional mentors.
The services include one-on-one mentorship, four hours a week, through Native mentors, with family engagement that connects children and caregivers to primary care, behavioral health and local community resources.
The grant helps remove barriers to access to mental health services, and supports healing grounded in Indigenous culture and life ways. Director Nicole Callahan says the fairly new program is seeing the impact already
"We’ve been able to be with them through really exciting and celebratory moments and milestones that they’ve reached, but we’ve also been able to show up for really vulnerable and challenging times for these families, and I think my favorite part is the relationships we build," Callahan told MTN.
The program hopes to expand its services to more youth in the near future.
