National Relief Charities (NRC) provides program services that benefit Native Americans throughout the United States. Our mission is "To help Native American people improve the quality of their lives by providing opportunities for them to bring about positive changes in their communities."

Lacking resources but strong in values and tradition.

NRC provides administrative oversight and outreach support for seven programs areas, which provide basic support and education programs to rural communities on economically depressed reservations in the Northern Plains and the Southwest. We work towards our mission in a way unique to most charities in the United States, and certainly unique to charities working with Native Americans, and we have found that our approach creates enormous benefits for our target populations. We adhere to nine guiding principles that we call "The NRC Way".

Who NRC serves.

NRC meets basic needs like stoves and fuel.

Most of our programs serve small, isolated communities in terrain so rugged that it can only be reached by four-wheel drive vehicle. In these communities, many residents lack access to basic resources such as food, water, utilities, medical care, and education. Water may come from a tap at the high school half an hour away. Phone companies may not run wires to these rural areas and sometimes the electric companies will do so only after charging large fees. Often the most basic medical resources, stores, and schools are an hour or more away even in good weather. In these communities, there are few opportunities for employment. The middle generation of working adults is often forced to move in order to find jobs, leaving behind grandparents to raise grandchildren. These communities are strong in tradition and values, but exist at the edge economically. Their residents are in need, and NRC is there for them.

More a partnership than a charity.

"... bountiful blessings to all those at AIRC." read this story

NRC receives substantial donations from corporations in the form of goods such as food, shoes, clothing, medical supplies, blankets and personal health care items, and uses monetary donations to purchase such goods at a substantial discount. NRC takes responsibility for the shipping costs from the manufacturer to our warehouses in South Dakota and Arizona and for warehousing costs. NRC distributes these vitally important goods to its programs, which work through Native American Program Partners to ensure that the goods reach the most needy in their communities. NRC and its programs work with reservation communities in a way that promotes volunteerism within the Native American community and provides incentives that encourage a higher standard of health awareness. Because it focuses on helping Native Americans to help themselves, NRC is more a partnership than a charity.

Program Partners.
NRC accomplishes its goal of strong, self-sufficient communities by forging close working relationships with Program Partners, who are Native Americans living in the reservation communities we serve. They work with us on a volunteer basis to provide help to their most needy. Through their intimate knowledge of the communities they live in, Program Partners accurately identify needs, effectively recruit volunteers, efficiently execute the programs, and intelligently assess changes for future programs. NRC’s more than 400 Program Partners, and the volunteers they recruit, commit more than a hundred thousand hours a year in their communities. They are the backbone of our programs.

NRC's Seven Major Programs.
NRC is comprised of the following seven program arms:

American Indian Education Foundation (AIEF)

Supports Native American education by providing students with scholarships and the tools to learn.

American Indian Relief Council (AIRC)

Provides broad-based programming in South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Idaho.

Council of Indian Nations (CIN)

Provides food and other programs in Arizona, New Mexico, California and Utah.

Southwest Indian Relief Council (SWIRC)

Provides broad-based programming in New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada.

Sioux Nation Relief Fund (SNRF)

Brings food programs to Sioux Elders who suffer from hunger and malnutrition.

Navajo Relief Fund (NRF)

Serves communities on the largest of all Indian Reservations in the United States, the Navajo Nation.

Native American Aid (NAA)

Assists needy children, adults, and Elders on reservations in the Northern Plains states.