Bush Prize: South Dakota Honorees Announced

The South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) is proud to partner with the Bush Foundation to introduce the 2025 Bush Prize: South Dakota honorees: Abbott House and Youth & Family Services, Inc (YFS). Each will receive an award of $250,000. As finalists for the award, Fork Real Community Café, Helpline Center, Inc, and Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation as a fiscal sponsor for Promising Futures Fund will also receive $10,000 each.

“It is our honor to support Abbott House and YFS with the Bush Prize: South Dakota award, recognizing their unwavering commitment to children and families in South Dakota,” says Stephanie Judson, SDCF President & CEO. “Their compassionate and creative approach to serving our youth are turning aspiration into action and in doing so, they are building stronger communities across the state.”

SDCF received 100 applications for the 2025 Bush Prize: South Dakota. Applications were evaluated on how the organization has created meaningful, long-lasting change to address the challenges and issues affecting their community; if the organization has a history of using innovative approaches that offer real solutions; and if the organization has a strong leadership and a culture of innovation. Out of the 100 applications submitted, five organizations were selected as finalists for the Bush Prize: South Dakota and two were selected as the honorees. 

Since 1939 Abbott House has been providing safety and shelter for children with nowhere else to go. Today, Abbott House serves more than 200 children and young adults each year in Mitchell, Sioux Falls, and Rapid City by providing long-term, trauma-informed support that includes therapy, education, life skills training, and consistent relationships they need to thrive. By building a comprehensive trauma treatment model within their Residential Psychiatric Treatment Facility (RPTF), Abbott House provides customized treatment for each child they serve to reflect upon their unique needs. RPTF uses a wide range of evidence-based interventions, such as Neurofeedback, Sensory Diets, Mood Management, Grief and Loss Groups, and Independent Living Skills, in addition to twice-a-week individual therapy sessions. The Bridges by Abbott House Program offers a unique solution to foster care. In homes owned by Abbott House and run by paid fill-time therapeutic foster parents, Abbott House has been able to provide stability to youth transitioning out of residential programs. The Bridges Program has proven that by creating a path forward children find stability, compassion, and a clear next step when there previously was none. 

“Abbott House is dedicated to providing premier services for youth and families,” said Eric Klooz, Abbott House Executive Director. “This incredible gift from  South Dakota Community Foundation in partnership with the Bush Foundation will provide much-needed support for our ongoing efforts. In addition to the generous funding, this recognition is deeply inspiring for our staff and reaffirms the importance of the work we do each day.”

YFS began in 1965 as a Girls Club of Rapid City. Over the years YFS added programs to meet the community needs and changed their name to Youth & Family Services. Now, YFS offers a Head Start, Counseling Center, Youth Trauma Center, Child Development Center, Health Advocacy Program, Stronger Families Program, Stronger Youth Program, Connect Program, Wester Prevention Resource Center, Nutrition Services, Middle School Program, and Garden Education Project. Through these programs, YFS provide evidence-informed, developmentally appropriate, and culturally responsive education, prevention, and recreation programs, health-care services, case management; trauma-informed counseling, mentoring, healthy relationships education, nutritious meals, training and technical assistances, and other support services. Up to 80% of families supported by YFS live in poverty; 60% are people of color; and at least 65% are from single-parent households, live with a relative, or are in foster care. YFS works to achieve positive outcomes, despite challenges children and families face.

“Youth & Family Services considers it a high honor to receive this recognition of our quality programming and progressive action in meeting community needs,” said John Julius, YFS CEO. “We are excited and truly and humbly grateful to a be recipient of the Bush Prize: South Dakota. This prize will help us continue our innovative approach to offering an array of wrap-around programs and services to address the unmet needs of children and families in western South Dakota.”

“These organizations exemplify what it means to be a Bush Prize: South Dakota honoree. In every area of their work within their organizations and with those they serve, they represent creative solutions. We are excited to be able to lift these organizations up as examples of what it means to be a Bush Prize honoree,” says Ginger Niemann, SDCF Senior Program Officer. 

The Bush Prize celebrates organizations that are highly valued within their communities and have a track record of transformational impact through creative solutions. It’s a recognition that honors extraordinary organizations that consistently engage and lead their communities. This award supports these organizations to amplify their work and inspire others. Bush Prize honorees bring communities together to think bigger and differently about their approach to solving problems in creative and collaborative ways. 

"The Bush Prize honorees are great examples of the impact community-based problem solving can have in our communities," says Eileen Briggs, Grantmaking Director at the Bush Foundation. "We’re grateful for the partnership of South Dakota Community Foundation and their deep community relationships and experience in selecting honorees."

Bush Prize: South Dakota will be made available to nonprofits again in 2026.

To learn more about funding opportunities offered by the SDCF, including the Bush Prize: South Dakota, please visit our website at https://www.sdcommunityfoundation.org/