For many American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) elders living in urban areas, daily life can feel disconnected from the cultural roots that once defined their sense of belonging and identity. Isolation and loneliness are challenges that have long affected this community, but the pandemic made them impossible to ignore. Through culturally appropriate outreach, the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake (UICSL) connected with urban Native elder communities and gathered a better understanding of their needs. What they heard was clear: social isolation was among the most pressing concerns facing AI/AN elders—and it wasn’t going away when the pandemic ended. That insight became a call to action.
A community responds
Approximately 60,000 Native Americans live in Utah, with the majority living in urban counties along the Wasatch Front. UICSL has long served this population by providing healthcare services and culturally relevant programming, but the pandemic revealed gaps that demanded a deeper, more intentional response, particularly for elders.
One elder, who had experienced the devastating loss of both her husband and nephew within a single month, shared that attending Elders Corner gave her space to focus on something beyond grief and to find joy again among people who could relate to her.
In January 2021, UICSL launched Elders Corner, a gathering space designed to bring AI/AN elders together in community. The impact was immediate. One elder, who had experienced the devastating loss of both her husband and nephew within a single month, shared that attending Elders Corner gave her space to focus on something beyond grief and to find joy again among people who could relate to her.
Her story reflects the experience of hundreds of elders who have found connection and healing through UICSL’s growing selection of elder-focused programs.
Programs built on culture and connection
In 2023, UICSL surveyed community members and heard a collective desire for more programming centered on cultural education and celebration. The response was the ”Rebalancing Culture” program—a multicultural initiative designed to create affirming spaces for Native American elders and families across the greater Salt Lake City metro area.
In its first year alone, the program organized eight events and 19 workshops comprising 56 individual classes. Offerings ranged from Diné Bizaad (Navajo) language instruction, traditional dance demonstrations (tied to Ute, Navajo, and Aztec cultures), and audio podcasting and videography workshops. Hundreds of participants of all ages have engaged with the program.
For many, it is the first time they have seen their heritage celebrated in an accessible, urban setting, and participants have described experiences of healing and cultural pride.
Alongside “Rebalancing Culture,” UICSL offers programs designed specifically for elders that meets them where they are physically, emotionally and culturally. Offerings such as Elders Corner, Coffee & Chat, In the Steps of Our Ancestors, Beginner Medicine Kickboxing, and Moving Warriors draw more than 100 participants each month. Weekly classes span traditional meals, wellness workshops, medical education, arts and crafts, and movement activities with guest presentations from AI/AN cultural knowledge holders woven throughout.
Elders are not passive recipients of care—they are teachers, storytellers, and mentors who pass traditional knowledge to youth and young adults.
Intergenerational exchange is critical to the success of the programs. Elders are not passive recipients of care—they are teachers, storytellers, and mentors who pass traditional knowledge to youth and young adults. Many participants also serve as primary caregivers in their own households, making their well-being essential to the health of entire families.
Transportation assistance, added within the past year, ensures that even the most logistically isolated elders can access clinical, behavioral health and community services.
Looking ahead
By centering elders—honoring their wisdom while addressing their needs—UICSL is not only reducing isolation and improving mental health but also strengthening the cultural fabric that holds Native communities together. This is just one of the many ways in which UICSL fulfills its mission of serving “the people” by honoring native cultures, strengthening health and wellness programs and cultivating community.
Since 1974, the UICSL has supported the growing American Indian and Alaska Native urban community along Utah’s Wasatch Front. As one of 41 Urban Indian Organizations contracted with the federal Indian Health Service and the only one in the state of Utah, the organization serves as both a clinical and cultural resource for Utah’s eight federally recognized tribal nations. UICSL hopes to share its model with like-minded organizations across the country so that more elders can find their way back to connection, culture, and well-being.
Photo credit: Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake
