The South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) recently awarded Simply Smiles Inc. with a $82,080 Beyond Idea Grant (BIG) to support the implementation of their foster home village concept located in LaPlant, a small town on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Offered in partnership with the Bush Foundation, the BIG program supports innovative, community-based, problem-solving efforts.
“The first-of-its-kind Simply Smiles Children’s Village for the state’s Native foster children is a big idea, and a big undertaking, that responds to a big need,” says Brian Nurnberger, Simply Smiles Inc. President & Founder. “We are incredibly grateful for the support from the South Dakota Community Foundation’s Beyond Idea Grant Program. We look forward to demonstrating the impact of this generosity and to our continued partnership.”
Simply Smiles, Inc. builds villages of foster homes where children are raised by families in strong intentional communities and currently operates a Children’s Village in LaPlant, SD, located on the Cheyenne River Reservation. They partner with the Department of Social Services, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Child Protection Services for this foster program.
“The Simply Smiles Children’s Village in LaPlant is an impressive project,” says Ginger Niemann, SDCF Senior Program Officer. “We’re looking forward to the good work that will come from this group.”
A total of $1.2 million will be available to nonprofits in 2023 through the BIG 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.