Terry Medina has been a probation officer for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska for a long time. During this 30 year span he has touched many lives with his influence and purpose. He has impacted the lives of many Native American men through is his Flame of Hope program and ReZZurected program which he created for those struggling with everyday life situations. This all started 16 years ago when he was trained in the Fatherhood is Sacred® program by Albert Pooley.
Through this training and his persistence, Terry helped those Native men struggling to better their lives and the lives of their families. He also created a prevention program for youth and their families called Brotherhood is Sacred and Sisterhood is Sacred. This program allows youth to communicate what is on their minds and talk from the heart to each other to create lifetime relationships that cannot be broken. They become loyal to each other and loyal to a lifetime of strength in their families.
Working as a probation office, his life has been like a pebble dropped in a pond, the effects of his influence has been felt by many. He explains it this way:
“Every month we go into the Drug Dependency Unit, which is a 20 bed in-patient treatment facility, which is part of the Indian Health Service Hospital here in Winnebago. They average 15 to 18 clients. The in-patient DDU goes in 30 day cycles, so they graduate with a certificate of completion for treatment and fatherhood/motherhood certificate as well. Over the past 72 months we have had 72 plus graduations. (2017) In addition to that, we have classes in the community through Probation and Human Services. Our numbers are staggering. During that time we have had 1,089 graduates. Out of that number we have had only 14 re-offend. A lot of the fathers and mothers keep coming back.”
Another testimony of a person’s influence is the test of time which is proven by this report from the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska’s Tribal Court specifically the Child Support Enforcement office: “The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska started the Fatherhood is Sacred® chapter in October of 2005. This past October (2015), Vivian ThunderCloud, Chief Clerk for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska’s Tribal Court and the overseer of the Child Support Enforcement office gave a report to the Tribal Council.
In her report, Ms. ThunderCloud gave much of the “credit” to the Fatherhood is Sacred® program for the amount of child support money that was paid into the Tribal Courts. This past fiscal year which ended September 30th, the fathers paid in $279,000.00 which is an increase of $30,000.00 over the last year for a total of $528,000.00.Also of the 160 plus fathers we have had only 5 come back through court on additional charges in a two year period.”
By teaching these programs week after week and year after year, thousands of Native men have been saved with their families. Thousands of men’s lives have been touched by Terry’s influence. He is living an incredible life and his example shines to us all. The power of one is great.