The South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) recently awarded a $50,000 Beyond Idea Grant (BIG) to Sioux Falls Thrive. Offered in partnership with the Bush Foundation, the BIG program supports innovative, community-based, problem-solving efforts.
“Low-income affordable housing is a statewide need that requires creative solutions and the work of thoughtful leaders from all walks of life,” says Michelle Erpenbach, Sioux Falls Thrive President. “Proceeds from this grant will fund the work of Thrive’s Housing Action Team to provide strategic planning, community collaboration, and consensus building around a proposed Sioux Falls Housing Trust Fund. A housing trust fund will provide a sustainable source of local funding that supports the development and rehabilitation of housing units that are affordable to families and individuals surviving on 30% to 40% of the area median income.”
Sioux Falls Thrive’s mission is to ensure all children in the Sioux Falls metro area have the resources they need to achieve optimal educational and career potential. The Housing Action Team members are Sioux Falls area leaders with a special passion for affordable housing, especially as it relates to the academic success of all children in the area. Team members represent government, business, faith, and nonprofit sectors of the community.
Erpenbach says, “More than 1,000 students in the Sioux Falls School District are homeless during any given school year. Housing Action Team volunteers wish for no children to be housed in motels, shelters, or vehicles. Therefore, the group’s vision is to be a catalyst to influence, advocate, and fund housing development for the most vulnerable populations in the Sioux Falls area.”
The Housing Action Team from Sioux Falls Thrive will work with community stakeholders, including the city, community foundation, developers, and others to create a community model and address potential sources for the future funding of a Sioux Falls Housing Trust Fund. A housing trust fund will provide a sustainable source of local funding that supports the development and rehabilitation of housing units that are affordable.
“Affordable housing is a great need across the state and we’re looking forward to what Sioux Falls Thrive learns through this project,” says Ginger Niemann, SDCF Senior Program Officer.
A total of $1.2 million will be available to nonprofits in 2023 through the Beyond Idea Grant program. To learn more about funding opportunities offered by the SDCF, please visit our website at https://www.sdcommunityfoundation.org/
SDCF is a public non-profit organization established in 1987. SDCF, with offices in Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Aberdeen administers 1,200 funds benefiting hundreds of charitable organizations annually. The Foundation distributed nearly $30 million in grants in 2022 which made a tremendous difference in communities statewide. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors. If you have a specific cause you would like to support or would prefer to give for the general good of our state, please visit https://sdcommunityfoundation.org/giving to learn more or call 1-800-888-1842.
The Bush Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them. Established in 1953 by 3M Executive Archibald Bush and his wife Edyth, the Foundation encourages individuals and organizations to think bigger and think differently about what is possible in communities across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geographic area.