The Warm Springs Community Action Team (WSCAT) is located on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, home to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. WSCAT promotes community development on the reservation by empowering individuals and groups of people to realize their potential, become self-reliant, and effect positive change for themselves, their families, and their community.
We offer services in four main program areas: asset building, local business promotion, workforce development, and education for personal and professional development. Our programs include individual development accounts (IDAs); free tax preparation services; financial, business, and homeownership education and counseling; apprenticeships, internships, and job training opportunities; and an outdoor market. We manage a food cart (Twisted Teepee) and café (Painted Pony) and are in the process of renovating the oldest building on the reservation, the Commissary, and turning it into a small business incubator. We offer a youth program, where youth learn about their culture while gaining work experience and skills in many of our program areas.
Each of our programs provide resources for our tribal members to succeed, and some of our programs facilitate connections between Warm Springs tribal members and people/organizations throughout Central Oregon. We have provided assistance to over 2,000 people, about half the reservation’s population, over the past five years, and demand for our programs continues to grow. Please consider making a donation to support us and our continued success in Warm Springs! Kw’athlashamash! (Thank you in Ichishkíin, one of the three tribal languages in Warm Springs).