Youth housing services

Native American Youth and Family Center is part of the Homeless Youth Continuum in Multnomah County. We work with youth, ages 18 to 24, experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Once screened in with Access Center at 503-432-3986, youth can then gain entry into NAYA's Youth Housing Program, and the services offered. The goal of the Youth Housing Program is to provide stable supports around housing and other basic human needs like food, hygiene, childcare and connection to culture.

Our youth development advocates are trained in trauma-informed care and understand the unique circumstances that lead to homelessness within the Native community. Following NAYA’s wraparound service model, the Youth Housing Program works with clients to develop their plans to meet long-term goals included employment, education, and healing from domestic violence, substance abuse, and systemic traumas. We believe culture is healing.

We are a highly mobile staff that can meet your needs by connecting you with:

• Culturally appropriate services
• Housing advocacy to help find affordable, safe and stable housing
• Budgeting help and financial wellness education to help youth gain financial independence
• The local Native community or other cultural communities
• Neighborhood resources and community mentors
• Cultural identity; personal & social development
• Self-care, Mental health and alcohol/drug services
• Support for reaching educational, career, and other personal goals
• On-site clothing closet and food pantry
• Invitations to fun social events

‍

NAYA is proud to be a part of a continuing pilot program, the Direct Cash Transfer program, that gives cash to unhoused young people that is showing results! Here's an excerpt from a January 2026 Think Out Loud episode called: After promising results, a pilot program giving cash to homeless youth enters its second phase:
‍
"Miller: What were you surprised by in the results of the study?

Rasmussen: Along those lines, I know we expected this to be a very positive housing investment. The results that we got through our evaluation, which was the 63 participants who completed all of the long-form surveys, is that by the end of those two years, that 94% of those young people reported being safely and stably housed, which, that number in and of itself, we expected it to be high. I’m not sure we expected it to be 94% high.

We also did a separate survey outside of the evaluation that was shorter in nature, and we got feedback from 107 that, in asking about their housing status, 91% of those youth reported being housed. So those numbers in and of itself were unexpected, for sure."

Learn more by listening to this OPB Think Out Loud episode now.