Year in review

I wrote a year in review for the Todd County Tribune. It encompasses the events of a busy 2009 for Sicangu Tikaga Okiciyapi. Check it out here.

Happy New Year!

Crow Creek

Check out some of the amazing ways online tools are being utilized for volunteering, community building, and community service.

Please check out what is happening in Crow Creek right now, in the heart of South Dakota. Please get involved if you feel moved to do so. Contact me if you would like to work together to do something.

http://www.can-do.org/virtualvolunteer/rideforlights/index.php

Take Care,

Dominique

VISTA Glacial Lakes Blog

Hey everyone,

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are surviving the snow:)

I am Dominique, a new VISTA in Watertown SD.  Please take a moment to check out the blog I am creating for our glacial lakes volunteer program through Volunteers of America.  If you like it, please consider "following" it, becoming a fan on facebook, etc.  Thanks so much!




http://http://glacialakesvolunteer.blogspot.com/

Baseball Player Trumpets Volunteerism

Here is a nice story about Curtis Granderson, a center fielder recently traded to the New York Yankees (yuck!), who is also know for his philanthropy and passion for community service. Interestingly enough, Granderson is one of the chief spokespeople for Action Plan, a partnership between Major League Baseball and Volunteers of America.

Maybe I'll see if he'd like to come out to Sioux Falls and speak to some future major leaguers!

Use of food stamps up

I hope you all had a chance to read the article in Sunday's New York Times about the recent increase in the use of food stamps and the corresponding decrease in its stigma. If there's a silver lining associated with the increased demand for what's officially termed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, it's that more people now realize that not everyone who needs food stamps is a lazy bum trying to avoid employment.

A map displaying food stamp usage rates by county nationwide accompanies the article. Rates are displayed for all residents, children, whites, and blacks. Each county's change in food stamp use since 2007 is also provided.

The highest rates are found in Indian Country, the Rio Grande Valley, the Ozarks, Appalachian Kentucky, and the Mississippi Delta.

New poverty data

The Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program released its 2008 poverty figures last week. Nationwide, the rate of poverty increased from 13.0 percent in 2007 to 13.2 percent in 2008. The rate in South Dakota, on the other hand, dropped slightly from 13.2 percent to 12.7 percent.

Ziebach County, part of the Cheyenne River Reservation, is still the most impoverished county in the entire country with a rate of 54.4 percent. South Dakota has three counties among the top 10, with an additional four in the top 50:

• Ziebach County, 54.4 percent, #1
• Shannon County, 46.0 percent, #4
• Todd County, 40.1 percent, #7
• Buffalo County, 37.7 percent, #14
• Corson County, 34.9 percent, #27
• Mellette County, 34.3 percent, #35
• Bennett County, 33.8 percent, #38

The first five counties on this list are part of reservations; Mellette and Bennett counties formerly were a part of the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations, respectively. Both still have sizable Native American populations within their respective borders.

The Census Bureau published a thematic map displaying rates of poverty by county. It's interesting to not only look at the distribution of poverty throughout South Dakota, but also its concentration (or lack thereof) in particular areas of the nation.

Homeless... in Chamberlain

The Argus Leader published an article in today's edition about a homeless woman in Chamberlain. Judging by the reader comments, there are still many misconceptions about the presence of homelessness outside of metropolitan areas and the question of whether people choose to be homeless (or live in a hotel room or a car).

Homelessness is found in cities large and small, from New York City to here in Mission. And I will also add a cold climate does not lead to shelter for all. I used to live in Juneau, Alaska, and it was not hard to locate the "walkers" like the woman mentioned in the article, even during the winter.