At the American Indian Family Center, listening to the community is central to how we determine where we are going next. Our programs and services should reflect the needs, experiences, and priorities of the people and families we serve, and our Community Needs Assessment allows us to hear directly from you.
Over the past several months, we have invited community members to share their experiences with our organization, identify the challenges affecting themselves and their families, and tell us what they would like to see from the AIFC in the years ahead. A total of 277 people participated in the assessment, with respondents reflecting a range of ages, Tribal affiliations, communities, and family circumstances. The assessment itself recorded 277 total responses, with 276 people responding to most of the core questions. We asked about everything from housing and employment to mental health, transportation, culture, family services, and the spaces and resources our community would like the AIFC to provide in the future.
What We Heard: Community Connection Matters
One of the clearest messages from the assessment was that many community members continue to face interconnected challenges affecting their quality of life and stability. Income and wealth were the most commonly identified barriers affecting quality of life, followed closely by mental health. Social connection and support, housing, transportation, employment, and benefits were also among the most frequently identified challenges.
At the same time, the results reinforced something equally important: community connection matters.
Throughout the written responses, community members repeatedly described AIFC as a place where they feel welcomed, supported, understood, and connected. People spoke about feeling comfortable coming to AIFC, being treated like family, receiving help during difficult times, and having a place where they feel they belong.
As one community member shared:
“AIFC treats me like family, and I have a sense of belonging.”
Another community member offered a simple image of what that sense of connection can feel like:
“I love hearing other natives laughing outside when I arrive. It reminds me of visiting home.”
The second respondent went on to describe the AIFC’s support for their family during a difficult period of healing. The first respondent similarly described the AIFC as a place of family and belonging.
That feedback is especially meaningful because the AIFC has always believed that meeting immediate needs is only part of our work. Creating spaces where American Indian people and families can find culture, relationships, healing, and community is just as important.
Looking Ahead, With Future Generations in Mind
We also asked community members what they would like to see from the AIFC over the next three to five years.
The most frequently selected priorities included expanded mental health services, recreational space such as fitness or gym space, American Indian-specific housing, work experience opportunities, ceremony space, family and early childhood services, youth services, and dedicated space for teens. Community members also expressed interest in greater on-site presence from Tribal and American Indian partner organizations, additional cultural and chemical health services, and spaces that bring resources together in one place.
The written feedback added even more to that picture. In those responses, some of these broader priorities became more concrete. Community members envisioned more help with housing, space, and programming for younger children and young adults, peer mentors, food distribution support, and enrollment assistance for descendants, and a centralized place where Indigenous Peoples can connect with local, state, and federal resources.
Elsewhere in the assessment, community members offered still more examples of what support and connection could look like: rent assistance, more family events, additional opportunities for beading and ribbon-shirt making, connections to sweat ceremony, more community ceremonies, youth activities, food support, and additional counseling for teenagers.
These findings give us both affirmation and direction. They tell us where the AIFC is making a difference today, while also showing us where our community is asking us to grow.
Your Voice Will Guide What Comes Next
A community needs assessment is only valuable if we do something with what we learn.
Over the next two years, we will use these results to inform program development, funding priorities, partnerships, organizational planning, and decisions about how our spaces can best serve community. We will look closely at the needs our community members identified most often, where gaps remain, and where the AIFC is uniquely positioned to respond.
These results also give us an important starting point for measuring change over time. As we move forward, we want to be able to return to what community told us, measure our progress, and continue asking whether our programs and services are meeting the needs of American Indian families.
Most importantly, thank you/gwichpeh/neahw/miigwech/wophida/philamaya/pinagigi.
Thank you to every person who took the time to complete the assessment, share an experience, identify a need, offer an idea, or tell us what AIFC has meant to you and your family. We recognize that asking for community input comes with a responsibility to listen, and to act on what we hear.
You told us what matters. Now it is our responsibility to keep listening, respond with care, and show how what we heard helps shape what comes next for AIFC.
Written by: Charlotte Mertz, AIFC Organizational Development Director