NAYA named EnVision Center by HUD

Portland’s Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) announced during a virtual press conference Tuesday, July 7, 2020, that it has been designated an EnVision Center by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler joined representatives from HUD and HomeForward Executive Director Michael Buonocore in making the announcement.

EnVision Centers receive support from federal partners to strengthen their ability to deliver integrated services at “one-stop” service centers, bringing federal agencies together to collaboratively provide resources and support to them, and introducing centers to new opportunities and resources available.

NAYA becomes the forty-ninth EnVision Center in the country–the first in Oregon, the second in the Pacific Northwest, and the third in the nation who focuses on services to tribal communities. NAYA’s selection will result in deepened and collaborative federal support across four pillars of programming: affordable housing, community engagement, education and afterschool programs, critical services, and economic development programming.

“Given the Native American Youth and Family Center’s history of effective, efficient and innovative service I have no doubt that NAYA’s EnVision Center will be a tremendous success, offering a model that other communities, Native and non-Native, will want to replicate,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native American Programs in HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing Heidi Frechette.

“NAYA is honored to be selected as an EnVision Center,” said NAYA Executive Director Paul Lumley. “Our service model is rooted in Indigenous values to embrace whole families and provide wraparound services across all aspects of their lives. We are thankful that HUD champions this model through its advancement of EnVision Centers, and are excited for this partnership and the opportunities it provides.”