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Before homeless Native young people can thrive, they need to heal and a secure base of culture and safety to build on. That’s what the Ain Dah Yung (Our Home) Center in Minnesota’s Twin Cities hopes to provide. They offer an emergency shelter for children as young as five and temporary transitional housing for teens. They also just opened the Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung Center (Good New Home) to offer permanent housing aimed at helping Native homeless for 18-24 year olds. The $17 million project has 42 efficiency apartments but is more than a place to stay. It has communal gathering spaces, teaching kitchens, and places for beading, hide tanning and sewing. The physical space is accompanied by mental, cultural and structural support. We’ll talk with the director and staff members about the work they do to help Native youth.
Guests:
Deb Foster (St. Croix Ojibwe) – executive director of Ain Dah Yung
Angela Gauthier – associate director of Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung
Mandy Pant – project manager Project for Pride in Living
Michael Laverdure (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) – principal and architect at DSGW Architects and director of First American Design Studio
Break 1 music: Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) (song) A Tribe Called Red (artist) Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) (single)
Break 2 music: Nitsimos (song) Shakti Hayes (artist) Touchwood Hills (album)
