Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Tilton Dennison, a case manager, helps Montezuma Creek youth overcome substance abuse and peer pressure.
- The Iina Bihoo'aah Program, launched in 2018, empowers youth to voice their concerns and make positive life choices.
- Funded by the Utah Navajo Health System, the program seeks additional donations for resources.
MONTEZUMA CREEK, San Juan County — It is tough to get lost when driving through Montezuma Creek.
The main road through town takes you anywhere you want to go.
"It is an awesome place to be, I would say," said Tilton Dennison. "This place is home. This is where I grew up. This is where I had gone to school and where I made friends."
Dennison knows everything about this place.
However, he also knows his beloved home in southeast Utah on the Navajo Nation needs some help.
"Because we are a border town of the reservation, access to alcohol and substances is really just within a five-minute drive. You drive down this road and it's really right there," he said.
Even with just that one main road, a lot of teenagers and young adults have gotten lost here.
"Substance abuse, domestic violence, there is bullying, peer pressure, there is suicide. There are a lot of things that happen here," he said.
It's also why Dennison has dedicated his career to helping.
He is a case manager for the Iina Bihoo'aah Program, which in Navajo means life learning.
"That is basically our overall goal, is to assist our youth transition to young adults," he said. "That is the main thing we are trying to do here."
Getting kids to open up
It can be difficult to get kids to talk about their feelings, especially in a small community where everyone knows everyone.
But since the program began in 2018, Tilton and his colleagues said it is working.
"Things that the youth and young adults in our community felt like they could never do, they have been able to bring that out," said Tanya Dean, director of the program. "They have learned their voice. They have learned to speak up for themselves."
Like, saying no to drugs or alcohol, graduating school, and asking for help when something doesn't feel right.
"The success has been radical," Dennison said.
Their work is funded through a grant with the Utah Navajo Health System.
That funding has been extended through 2028, but there are some things the grant doesn't cover, which is why workers have had to get creative.
Workers find ways to get donations to help pay for clothes, uniforms for jobs, even tools needed for one student to attend automotive tech school.
"I saw a repair shop going out of business, so I sent them an email. The worst they can say is no," Dean said. "Our therapist, she reached out on Facebook marketplace. It's a team effort to get donations."
It is a slow process to gain the trust of teens in the community, especially in a culture where tradition is everything.
With every success story, though, it shows them there is another road besides the one many have gone down before.
"Some of these things have been trying for them," Dennison said. "To this day, I am happy to say that they are doing it."
