Lakota Circles of Hope Partners with Rural American Initiatives
Lakota Circles of Hope prevention curriculum is now being offered to students in Rapid City middle schools thanks to a partnership between Catholic Social Services (CSS) and Rural America Initiatives (RAI). Ateyape Wicozani, a RAI program, staff received...
The Third Time’s a Charm for Uplifting Parent’s Participant Dani Hersrud’s College Success
Dani will graduate with a surgical technology degree from Western Dakota Technology in May, about 20 years after she first enrolled as a college student. Her second college experience came in 2011, following a stint as a U.S. Army medic, when she earned a...
CSS Staff and Volunteers helped with disaster relief in Oglala in November and December.
The weather cooperated with sunshine and 60-degree temperatures on Nov. 20 and Dec. 11 as a teams of Catholic Social Services volunteers repaired Wilma Blacksmith’s mobile home and several others that were damaged in a Pine Ridge Reservation hailstorm last summer....
CSS Staff and Volunteers attend Catholic Charities USA Disaster Training Workshop in Colorado Springs in December.
Staff and volunteers of CSS were able to attend a national disaster response conference due to a recent grant from Catholic Charities USA. The Applied Institute for Disaster Excellence (AIDE) conference is a "by the network, for the network" training that strengthens...
CSS Staff and Volunteers help with disaster relief in Oglala
The weather cooperated with sunshine and 60-degree temperatures on Nov. 20 as a team of Catholic Social Services volunteers repaired Wilma Blacksmith’s mobile home and two others that were damaged in a Pine Ridge Reservation hailstorm last summer. “I was...
November is National Adoption Month: Crosslands Grow Family Through International Adoption
Chloe Crossland was born in China with a cleft palate birth defect. Abandoned at birth, she spent the first nine years of her life in orphanages. In June, Chloe was adopted by Jay and Angela Crossland of Rapid City and welcomed into a family that includes...
Founder’s Award honoree Mayor Barnett recalls Msgr. O’Connell’s wisdom
In 1971 a 28-year old man became the youngest mayor of Rapid City. His two terms were pressure packed times of natural disaster and civil unrest. Catholic Social Services chose to award former Mayor Don Barnett with the Msgr. William O’Connell...
CSS’s Prosperity Initiative Staff Honored
The Prosperity Initiative is helping students at the Career Learning Center of the Black Hills achieve amazing educational outcomes, according to the South Dakota Association for Lifelong Learning. In recognition of that successful partnership, the CSS-led...
September: National Suicide Month
September: National Suicide Month Carol Snyder has marked 20 years of painful milestones since the death of her son, Charlie, in 1998 by suicide. “He would have been 40 years old this year,” Carol said. A recent invitation to the 40th birthday party of...
Uplifting Parents Program Changes Lives
Two years ago, Hollee Hook was facing a mid-life career change while grieving the death of her longtime partner and raising her 13-year old son, Ethan, by herself. Today, Hollee has a new career in surgical technology, thanks to Western Dakota Tech and the...