At the end of last month, an anonymous donor gifted $3 million to Kinship Heals, bringing the nonprofit a step closer to realizing its vision for Aquinnah Headwaters, a shelter and healing center for Native survivors of violence.
Kinship Heals provides services to Native American survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking and trafficking. The organization was founded in response to the disproportionate rates of violence that Native women experience.
“For tribal people, we didn’t have domestic violence and sexual assault in our communities prior to colonization and contact with Europeans,” said Jen Randolph, executive director of Kinship Heals. “There is no native language that has any words for sexual assault or domestic violence.”
Now, according to Ms. Randolph, it is estimated that four out of every five Native women have experienced violence, often from non-Native perpetrators.
Aquinnah Headwaters seeks to address this by filling a gap in services for Native people on the Vineyard. The project would provide survivors with a place to stay while they heal from the traumas or violences they have experienced. The space, planned to be built in Aquinnah, would be the first shelter and healing center dedicated to serving Native people in the state of Massachusetts.
“We currently have an office and program space where we can run programs that offer support groups and education and all of those things, but we don’t have a place to provide shelter. And there’s nowhere on this island to do that,” Ms. Randolph said.
The idea for Aquinnah Headwaters took shape in November 2022 when Ms. Randolph first saw the land for sale. Kinship Heals put in an offer and signed an agreement contingent upon fundraising the full purchase price, which the organization was able to accomplish in 60 days.
Fundraising paused as the organization began researching and planning the next steps for the land. With the $3 million gift, the team is ready to build on that momentum.
“Now we’re ready to get building. We are ramping up again, and that big $3 million donation was the beginning of our new push to get the rest of the building funds raised,” Ms. Randolph said.
The total cost for the project is $17.67 million. So far, Kinship Heals has raised $6.7 million, with about $11 million left to raise. Architectural and design plans are complete, and the organization has received all necessary permits to break ground, which the team plans to do in the fall of 2027.
At Aquinnah Headwaters, Kinship Heals plans to offer three one-bedroom dwellings where residents could stay for up to 18 months. Ms. Randolph sees the model as an alternative to traditional shelters, where survivors often share crowded spaces and must leave before they feel ready.
“[Traditional shelters] are a safe space, but not very healing,” Ms. Randolph said. “People don’t stay very long, and they’re hurried up to get into more permanent housing, and they move on without really taking the time to heal.”
Beyond housing, Kinship Heals hopes to provide multifaceted services, including credit counseling, therapy and childcare.
Ms. Randolph said personal experience, alongside what she has learned from survivors in her community, helped shape her vision for the center’s approach to healing.
“Being a survivor myself, and being in community with so many other victims and survivors, [means] knowing that firsthand what happens, how you feel, what you’re going through and all the pieces that need to come together to really be successful in being able to move on,” she said.
Ms. Randolph moved to the Island when she was 23, shortly after escaping an abusive relationship. For her, connecting with her Native culture and heritage was instrumental to her recovery.
“Digging into the cultural pieces and how important that was for myself, I thought it was important to be able to pass that on,” she said.
Kinship Heals emphasizes cultural practices and traditional values as essential parts of recovery. By helping Native survivors reconnect with their heritage at Aquinnah Headwaters, the organization hopes to restore a sense of safety and connection to its communities.
“My ultimate goal is looking at not just saving someone from the immediate crisis at hand, but also restoration,” Ms. Randolph said. “How do we bring people back to who they would have been if this horrible thing hadn’t happened to them?”