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.
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 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 Founder’s Award for his work following the 1972 flood and the 1973 American Indian Movement demonstrations on Main St.
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.
Carol Snyder has marked 20 years of painful milestones since the death of her son, Charlie, in 1998 by suicide.
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.
Imagine coming home to discover that your child, perhaps a 12-year-old daughter or a 16-year-old son, has taken their own life. I can’t imagine such an experience. But too many parents in communities across South Dakota have experienced this tragedy. Many priests and ministers serving in our communities agonize over the number of funerals resulting from suicide.
The South Dakota Legislature has a new mandate regarding suicide prevention efforts (SB 129) for all SD School Districts. Effective July 1, 2017, all teachers, administrators and other educational professionals must have suicide prevention training. This training must be a minimum of one hour of suicide awareness and prevention.
