The Problems
Native American people often suffer from many endemic social ills, and the need on the reservation is enormous. The problems are often complex and interrelated, and they all revolve around fatalism and hopelessness. Some of the challenges facing the youth are:

• The teen suicide rate is two to three times higher than that of any other US demographic

• The death rate from alcoholism for young people is ten times greater than for US population as a whole

• The illicit drug use rate is nearly 70% greater than that of the general US population, and users tend to start at an earlier age and progress more quickly

• There is violence and other abuse in the home

• There is a wide variety of self-destructive behavioral patterns

We believe that these problems are cyclical and can be passed from one generation to the next, and that they all stem from the following broader emotional and spiritual problems:

• Lacking the knowledge of being loved

• Needing good, healthy “escape mechanisms”

• Lacking the knowledge that obedience to God does not take the fun out of life or take culture away

These are the problems that our program and our ministry partners’ programs are fighting. The young people understand what they are up against. In a United States Senate hearing on Problems Facing Native American Youth in August 2002, 200 native young people were asked to list the problems that they are facing. They responded, “Suicide, Alcohol, Drugs, Violence, Teen Pregnancy and STDs, Spiritual Emptiness.”

However, there is good news! In that same Senate hearing, several of the experts on Native American youth kept coming to the same conclusions. They believe that after school programs and educational/vocational opportunities will help keep these kids out of trouble, give them something good to do, and give them healthy escape mechanisms.  Add that to our ability to show the kids love while they are with us and you’ve got a formula for beginning to solve some of these problems.