The beating heart of the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center is its internship program. Created three years ago to provide Cheyenne River’s teens with opportunities to learn valuable job and life skills, the program now includes...
Fifteen-year-old Brenton Veit might have originally signed up for a teen internship at the Cheyenne River Youth Project to earn a little extra money, but he ended up taking home much more than his stipend. Brenton has attended CRYP programs since he was in sixth...
In the years since we launched our Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center’s internship programs, we’ve learned two very important things. Cheyenne River’s teens crave opportunities to learn new job and life skills, and they welcome mentorships that inspire them...
While many of the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s teen interns have completed multiple internship programs at our Eagle Butte campus, we are constantly welcoming new participants. We take great pleasure in watching them learn new skills, develop a sense of pride in...
When the Cheyenne River Youth Project first launched its innovative teen internship programs in 2014, its primary goal was to give Cheyenne River’s young people new opportunities to learn job and life skills that would serve them well into adulthood. That goal is now...
Through the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s teen internship programs, we’re able to engage young people with a variety of interests. Some teens want to work in our organic Winyan Toka Win (Leading Lady) garden. Others wish to learn to make gourmet coffees and prepare...
Before the Cheyenne River Youth Project® was founded in 1988, children growing up on the Cheyenne River Lakota reservation didn’t have many options for safe, positive places to go outside of school. When CRYP opened the doors to its Main youth center, 4- to...
When the Cheyenne River Youth Project opened the doors to its Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center 10 years ago, staff members envisioned that the 26,000-square-foot facility would become a true center of life in the Cheyenne River community. And, they hoped...
Wendell Nezzie is a valuable member of the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s youth programming staff. He also is a CRYP alumnus. Wendell grew up in a small community called Wicagakapi Sa, or Red Scaffold, in the western part of South Dakota’s remote Cheyenne River Sioux...
In recent years, the Cheyenne River Youth Project® has devoted significant resources to its wellness programming. We believe the best way to serve our children and provide for a positive, healthy future is to address their holistic well-being — from nutrition and...