TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation is accepting applications for its Public Health and Wellness Partners Grant for 2026. The grant provides eligible capital and operational projects impacting the Cherokee Nation Reservation.
Since its inception, the grant funded $1.8 million to 34 organizations across the reservation.
“Earlier this year, Deputy Chief Warner and I made these grants available to assist schools, local governments and non-profits with projects to improve their community’s public health. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “With its successful first year, we are excited to offer this grant again and turn wellness programs and investment ideas into plans.”
Eligible entities for the Public Health and Wellness Partners grant for 2026 include public schools, non-profit entities and local governments. The entities may be based inside or outside the Cherokee Nation Reservation but must impact citizens and communities inside the reservation.
The PHW Partners grant will issue grants from a pool of $1.5 million this year. Eligible entities may be awarded up to $150,000 for eligible capital projects or up to $25,000 for one-time funding of new or pilot program operations.
Previously funded projects ranged from micro parks, school wellness spaces, medical helicopter pads, outdoor fitness stations, and emergency weather sirens.
“This program started out as a pilot, but with its success, we are thrilled to continue it again for the coming year. Public health across the reservation is something we take seriously and are proud to help support those efforts where the need is the greatest. I can’t wait to see the continued progress across the reservation with this funding,” Deputy Chief Bryan Warner said.
In 2021, Chief Hoskin, Deputy Chief Warner and the Council of the Cherokee Nation enacted the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act, which was most recently amended in 2025. The law, among other things, earmarks a portion of the tribe’s third-party health revenue mostly for Cherokee Nation public health and behavioral health programs.
PHWFA has been used for some of the tribe’s major health initiatives such as new wellness centers and other programs and projects that support individual and community health and wellness.
“We are thankful for the interest this grant received during its first year. With support from Chief Hoskin, Deputy Chief Warner and the Council of the Cherokee Nation, we were able to help fund 34 organizations with either capital projects or new program operations and that is something to be proud of. This grant is changing community public health for the better and we can’t wait to get going on the second year of this grant,” Cherokee Nation Deputy Secretary of State Canaan Duncan, who helps oversee the program, said.
Now on its second year, the tribe plans to make its Public Health and Wellness Partner grants available annually.
Eligible non-profits can seek more information by emailing