5th Annual Toy Drive

ABOUT

New Avenues for Youth is a Portland-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention and intervention of youth homelessness. Our services for young people (ages 9-24) focus on the individual—their experiences, identities, needs, and goals—and help them make positive changes in their lives. From meals and counseling to job training and housing, our equity-based services address the many barriers to stability and well-being that young people face. Each and every day, we show up in compassionate, creative ways, ensuring that they always have a place to turn.

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STORY

New Avenues’ founding in 1997 was a response to the growing numbers of youth experiencing homelessness in downtown Portland. While intervention in street homelessness remains central to our efforts, prevention—or reaching young people earlier to stop homelessness before it starts—is increasingly a strategic focus for us. In fact, more than half of our budget is devoted to it. And for good reason: gentrification, historical and institutional racism, rising housing costs, and the COVID-19 pandemic have displaced, marginalized, and isolated low-income and BIPOC communities in the region, with housing instability and homelessness on the rise.

From meals and counseling to job training and housing, our equity-based services address the many barriers to stability and well-being that young people face. Each and every day, we show up in compassionate, creative ways, ensuring that they always have a place to turn.