NAYA Family Center ’s mission is “…to enhance the diverse strengths of our youth and families in partnership with the community through cultural identity and education.”

Community Need:

• Multnomah   County   has 38,000 American Indian and Alaska Native residents, with over 5,000 youth under the age of 18.

• 50% of the Native Americans living in Multnomah County live at 200% below the poverty level, this breaks down to $7.22/hour for a family of four (2002 Census).

• Native American students have the highest drop out rate of 19.6% each year as compared with the general population of 6.3%.

• 206 out of every 1000 urban Indians reported being the victim of a violent crime.
  

NAYA Family Center continues to relentlessly seek solutions to community needs.  Staff have consistently found that creating additional resources for culturally-specific programming represent the best option for Multnomah County’s most vulnerable community.

Programs: NAYA Family Center draws on the strengths of its staff and volunteers to provide inclusive programming for Native American youth and their families.  NAYA Family Center currently provides the following programs:

• Middle School Retention Services
• High School Retention Services
• Tutoring and After School Programs
• Native Community Employment Services
• Middle School and High School Math and Science Summer Programs
• Healing Circle Domestic Violence Prevention Program
• Generations Project
• Foster Care/ Independent Living Program
• Sports Program
• Cultural Arts Program 
  

NAYA Family Center is proud of its tradition of highly qualified staff working on behalf of the Native American community.  Staff are committed to gathering community feedback in order to provide quality programs to serve Native American youth and families.