WHAT:
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. to sign into law an amendment to the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act that will earmark $6.5 million to construct and operate transitional living housing for formerly incarcerated citizens.
WHEN:
Tuesday, March 3 at 1 p.m.
WHERE:
W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex Second Floor
17675 S. Muskogee Ave.
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
WHO:
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Deputy Chief Bryan Warner
Cherokee Nation Cabinet
Council of the Cherokee Nation
TAHLEQUAH, Ok. — Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. to sign amendments to the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act that lock down over $6.5 million in new opioid settlement funds.
The tribe will use $4 million of the funding to expand its Coming Home Reentry Program and will build and operate transitional living housing for formerly incarcerated Cherokee citizens.
In 2017, the Cherokee Nation was the first tribe in the country to sue the opioid industry, with the most recent settlement netting over $6.5 million in September 2025.
In 2021, the tribe began placing its opioid settlement funds in the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act and created the “PHWFA Behavioral Health Capital Fund.” The opioid settlement provisions of PHWFA currently funds over $64 million in construction of substance use disorder inpatient and outpatient facilities. An outpatient and inpatient campus in Tahlequah and an outpatient center in Vinita are expected to open in 2027.
Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner originally proposed this amendment last month and the Council of the Cherokee Nation unanimously approved it at a special-called meeting in February.