This year, we’ll celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Cheyenne River Youth Project. The quarter-century mark is not only a celebration of what a community can do for itself, but also major milestone on the way to an even brighter future.
“It’s not common for a community-based not-for-profit to last this long, and to be serving its second generation of children,” said Julie Garreau, our executive director. “It doesn’t happen often in Indian Country, but it happened here, and we want to make sure we remain a stable, positive presence for the generations of children to come. So we’re taking some big steps.”
The first major step actually happened about a year ago, when CRYP welcomed Kellie Jewett to its full-time staff as development director. The position was made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention. A member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who currently makes her home in suburban Denver, Jewett is responsible for providing coordination and oversight of all fundraising activities, including corporate, federal, state and foundation giving; individual and major donor giving; planned giving; event planning and implementation; marketing; donor management and donor cultivation.
Then, just prior to the holidays, CRYP staff assembled in Rapid City, South Dakota, for an intensive three-day retreat facilitated by Hopa Mountain and Barbara Rusmore. Hopa Mountain, a Bozeman, Montana-based not-for-profit organization, is dedicated to investing in rural and tribal citizen leaders in their efforts to improve education, ecological health and economic development.
Together, CRYP’s and Hopa Mountain’s goal was to draft a strategic plan that would map out the Cheyenne River youth organization’s vision, challenges, goals and objectives for the next three to five years.
“The experience was a revelation,” Garreau said. “I was amazed to see how every member of our staff seemed to intimately understand the challenges we face, where we need to go and how we need to get there. The entire team worked together so seamlessly, and with such dedication; I’m very proud of them.”
“It was exciting to see the road unfold in front of the CRYP staff as they worked together on defining their assets and strengths, their challenges and their vision for where the youth project needs to be in the next few years to best meet the needs of their community,” said Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer, Hopa Mountain’s executive director. “It’s a privilege to assist those who are so dedicated to youth work, particularly as they seek to take their entire organization to the next level and ensure its longevity for the generations to come.”
CRYP’s new strategic plan incorporates a broad range of tasks in every department, each of which will move the organization closer to realizing its long-term goals in administrative structure, youth programming, Family Services, the 2-acre naturally grown Winyan Toka Win Garden and on-site social enterprises.
In terms of administration, CRYP seeks to fully staff both the Cokata Wiconi teen center and The Main youth center, which they hope to do through creative scheduling with qualified local community members.
“At the moment, due to our small staff size and fluctuating numbers of volunteers, the centers have to be open on an alternating schedule with limited hours,” Garreau explained. “That’s not ideal. We’re working toward a staffing plan that will allow us to be open six days a week, from the time school gets out until late evening, and all day on Saturdays. We need to be there for our kids whenever they need us, and that’s not a simple 9-to-5 job.”
Staff also are developing enhanced youth programming for both centers, particularly in the areas of leadership, Lakota culture/heritage, wellness and diabetes prevention. In fact, CRYP just welcomed Denise Lightningfire to the staff as the organization’s nutrition assistant; she will be working closely with youth programming staff to implement diabetes prevention classes, special activities and community outreach.
In addition, CRYP is developing a youth memberships component. Through its new access-card-based security system, the youth project can issue memberships to participating youth. Membership is still free, but the access cards will allow staff members to track attendance and program participation.
“The data we collect through the access cards and through routine surveys will allow us to better serve our young people, understanding their needs and wants,” Garreau said. “Other key elements of this youth membership component will be a formal welcome/orientation program to the Cokata Wiconi teen center, a special graduation ceremony for teens who have reached the maximum age of 19 and an alumni club that will allow us to stay in touch.”
This year, CRYP also hopes to expand its Family Services program to reach even more families across the 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River reservation. Current memberships stand at 300; Garreau said they’re seeking to double that number.
“We’d like to see the kind of participation in year-round Family Services that we see in our Christmas Toy Drive,” she explained. “This past holiday, we served 1,200 children in 20 reservation communities. We want to serve families in that many communities on a regular basis, providing heat-match assistance, home improvement assistance, household supplies, school supplies, shoes, winter coats, baby items… whatever they need. We know from experience that one of the best ways to support our children is to support their families.”
In addition, CRYP is looking toward expanding its social enterprises, from the summertime Farmer’s Market and community garden initiatives to the Gift Shop and the Keya Cafe. In fact, Garreau said the staff is hoping to open the cafe with a limited menu this spring.
“We’re going to start with a coffeehouse approach, and we’ll gradually add breakfast and lunch items as we go forward,” she said. “One of our major goals is to make CRYP a gathering place for our community, a place to visit, relax and exchange ideas, and the Keya Cafe will be a critical piece of that puzzle.”
Finally, CRYP will be further developing its community relationships this year. It seeks closer partnerships with Cheyenne River’s schools, with the reservation’s other not-for-profit organizations and with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe itself.
“Our children are our single greatest hope for the future,” Garreau said. “We’re eager to work more closely with partners here on Cheyenne River, sharing facilities, developing youth programming and communicating about issues affecting our kids and their families. We all want the same thing: to ensure healthier children, stronger families and more self-sufficient communities. And we can do it, if we work together.”