A conversation with Tai, the new Director of the AYC

For Tyendinaga “Tai” Hayden, the Allen Youth Center is more than a building—it belongs to the young people of Allen.

“I want them to feel like they belong here,” Tai said. “They don’t have to earn the right to be here or explain what’s happening at home. They can eat, shower, wash clothes, make something, play basketball, or just have somewhere safe to exist for a while. More than anything, I want our kids to know this is THEIR youth center.”

Tai became director of the Allen Youth Center three months ago, bringing with her years of experience serving and mentoring Native youth. Before coming to Allen, she worked with young people through Friends of the Children–He Sapa, Abbott House Youth Services and Arise Youth Center. Her work has included mentorship, advocacy, residential care and community-based programming.

When One Spirit founder and Director Jeri Baker received Tai’s open application and got to know her, she invited Tye to take over leadership of the youth center. With a deep passion for supporting Native youth in underserved communities, Tai was happy to accept.

As director, Tai keeps the youth center and its associated food pantry organized and running smoothly. The center feeds anywhere from 10 to 40 children each day, while the food pantry serves more than 60 families each month. Since arriving, Tai has implemented a cooking class and recurring basketball tournaments, adding to the center’s variety of activities, which includes pottery, gardening, art and plenty of slime-making. She is also working with girls in the community to plan regular lock-ins featuring movies and stargazing with the center’s telescope.

Still, some of the most meaningful moments are the simplest.

“Sometimes it’s a PB&J and a conversation in the kitchen, making slime, learning chess, or showing you something they made,” Tai said. “Those little moments have taught me that kids come back to places where they feel wanted, and that’s what matters most.”

Her warmth is easy to see in the way children respond to her. When they arrive at the center, they often immediately look for Tai. They know she will listen, take their concerns seriously and do everything she can to help them feel seen, heard and safe. Her approach is rooted in a simple belief she carries into all her work: Everyone deserves food, shelter and water.

“Food, clean water, warmth and shelter are basic human needs, not rewards for making all the ‘right’ choices in life,” she explained. “I don’t need to know someone’s story before deciding whether they deserve to eat. Sometimes helping another person really is that simple.”

Tai is Kanien’kehá:ka, or Mohawk, and Wolf Clan, with family roots in Akwesasne and upstate New York. Her journey of reconnecting with her identity as an adult has made her especially passionate about ensuring that Native young people have access to their cultures and communities.

“As a Kanien’kehá:ka woman working in a Lakota community, I’m very conscious that these aren’t my homelands, but there are experiences that connect Native people across tribal lines,” she said. “Our kids deserve more than constantly hearing statistics about everything wrong in Indian Country. They deserve adults who see how funny, intelligent, creative, talented and capable they are, and who remind them of that every day.”

Tai also recognizes that Kanien’kehá:ka and Lakota cultures are distinct, and she considers it a privilege to be trusted to live and work within a Lakota community.

In just three months, she has helped bring new energy into the youth center. She is especially proud that children are beginning to treat it like a second home—a place where planned activities often make room for unexpected ideas, creativity and fun.

Looking ahead, Tai hopes the Allen Youth Center will become a resource the community can depend upon for generations. Her vision includes consistent programs, cultural opportunities, educational support, healthy food, technology and experiences that help children discover what they are capable of. Most importantly, she wants the people of Allen to help guide the center’s future.

“They know what their community needs better than anyone,” she said.

Outside of work, Tai’s life still revolves largely around children and animals. She has a house full of dogs and loves music, poetry and anything creative. She can also usually be convinced to join whatever ridiculous idea the kids come up with. Alongside her work at AYC, she is a full-time college student studying psychology and human development—which means there is almost always homework waiting for her somewhere.

Tai wants supporters to understand that the children served by AYC should never be defined by the challenges they face.

“Our children are not charity cases,” she said. “The poverty, housing issues and food insecurity here are very real, and we shouldn’t hide those realities, but those circumstances are not who these kids are. They’re funny, creative, stubborn, talented kids who play basketball, make TikToks, paint nails, make slime, dream big and eat an unbelievable amount of snacks.”

For Tai, supporting the Allen Youth Center is not about saving anyone. It is about ensuring that young people have access to the opportunities, care and resources they already deserve—and being one of the people they can count on to be there.

As she puts it: “Kids remember who shows up.”