The Native American Youth and Family Center’s 7th Annual Housing-to-Homeownership Fair

Portland, Ore.— The Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) will be holding its 7th Annual Housing-to-Homeownership Fair on Saturday, July 28th, from 10 am to 3 pm.

The Native American Housing-to-Homeownership Fair provides a wide range of housing and homeownership resources tailored to the Portland metropolitan area’s Native American community. The Fair is an equal housing

opportunity event with a culturally specific focus; it is free and open to everyone.

The fair is a key part of NAYA’s initiative to close the Native American homeownership gap. Although homeownership rates in Portland are over 65%, only 39% of Native American community members own their own home. Since our inaugural fair in 2006, NAYA’s homeownership programming has resulted in over 90 new homeowners or refinances. The fair offers information and resources available for renters, prospective homebuyers and homeowners, with an expanded focus on sustainability in our homes and community.

The event will include the following opportunities:

 Drawings for $2,500 down payment assistance grants and $400 rent or mortgage assistance grants

 Workshops on locating affordable rental housing, first-time home buying, financial wellness and gardening

 The opportunity to meet with home-buying professionals, local non-profits, affordable housing providers and the HUD Section 184 Indian Home Loan program

 Free lunch, children’s activities and a dance performance

This year’s theme is “Establishing Roots for the Seventh Generation” and emphasizes the importance of having a home for Native people. A home is not only a place to live, but also provides a connection to the land and the

community. Homes root our children, our children’s children, and so on—to the seventh generation—to the region we live in and help provide a sense of stability, connection, and well-being.

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.” NAYA Family Center provides a vehicle for Native

youth and their families to make healthy decisions and grow in positive ways. Programming currently reaches

1,300 youth and 600 families in the Portland metropolitan area. Through a holistic approach that focuses on the

mental, spiritual, physical and emotional needs of our young people, NAYA Family Center programs seek to

empower youth by helping them build personal qualities such as leadership and self-sufficiency skills.