Sioux Falls Thrive

The City Council on Tuesday received their latest briefing from a consultant hired to explore options to ease the strain on families and childcare providers. Earlier this year, the council agreed to hire Justin Smith, a lawyer and lobbyist with the Sioux Falls firm Woods Fuller, to research potential solutions and make recommendations. One element of Smith’s charge was to outline a plan to create a “tri-share” program under which the city, employers and families combine resources to make childcare more affordable. “A one-year pilot program would allow the City of Sioux Falls, the business community and families to evaluate the pros and cons of the program,” Smith said. “The benefits from it, the best options for this community, approaches that right-size it for Sioux Falls.” To read more details on how a tri-share model would work, check out pages 53-54 of the Sioux Falls Childcare Collaborative's Community Childcare Initiative Final Report: https://lnkd.in/gfYZnbKn. Thank you to Patrick Lalley from Sioux Falls Live for your reporting!

The Child Care for Working Families Act (CCWFA) could eliminate child care costs for many lower- and middle-income families. If more families had access to affordable, high-quality child care, safety net programs would spend less funds acting as a patchwork system of financial relief that fills household budget holes created by child care costs for families who may not otherwise be eligible for assistance. Food, income, and housing assistance programs are largely designed to help people facing financial difficulties at certain points in their lives, not as a necessity to raising a young child. Comprehensive, sustained investments in affordable and accessible child care would improve family financial security, reduce the rate of children living in poverty, and reduce strains on the social safety net system. To learn about other solutions to the #childcarecrisis, read the Sioux Falls Childcare Collaborative's Community Childcare Initiative Final Report: https://lnkd.in/gfYZnbKn.

Congratulations to Shelby Kommes, MPH, Jason Simon-Ressler, and all the professionals who made South Dakota State University's 30 under 30 list for transformative work in public health! Shelby and Jason both are volunteers for Thrive's Community Food Security Network. “Public health work occurs in so many forms, especially in South Dakota where we often have limited resources for specific public health professionals, so I loved being able to highlight individuals who are making a difference without having more formal restrictions," says Keri Pappas, co-creater of the list.

Sioux Falls Thrive celebrated its short but successful history recently by honoring the people whose vision gave life to this work. Many thanks to Thrive's founding executive, Candy Hanson, long-time Board members Deb Koski, CFRE and Beth Jensen (Fuller), and so many others who understand that cradle-to-career workforce development supports the potential for all of our community's children.

Thank you to the City of Sioux Falls city council for letting the Sioux Falls Thrive Housing Action Team discuss our housing education courses taking place in Terry Redlin Elementary! The program is truly one of a kind, providing childcare and meals. The project aims to help those on a path to homeownership receive a HERO certificate and those renting know their rights and responsibilities as renters. Thank you for all parties that made this possible!

Dr. Suzanne Smith from the Augustana Research Institute at Augustana University (SD) kicked off last night's first session of the free Community Housing Education Course, hosted by Sioux Falls Thrive’s Housing Action Team and funded in part by the REALTOR? Association of the Sioux Empire, Inc., the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, and the Sioux Falls School District, with education provided by LSS of South Dakota and the Sioux Empire Housing Partnership. Participants started learning about Pathways to Home Ownership and Smart Renting Strategies. Participation is free. Meals and childcarebare provided. Tonight is the last opportunity to begin the course and complete all required sessions. Click here to register now: https://lnkd.in/gWZRCTPp. We look forward to seeing you there!

The seven-part course will run from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11-14 and Nov. 18-20. Pre-registration is encouraged because the Realtor Association of the Sioux Empire will provide take-home meals for participants and family members at home. Child care also will be provided. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gWZRCTPp. Thank you to Jill Callison with Pigeon605 for your reporting!

Last night we celebrated outgoing Thrive board members Deb Koski, CFRE, and Beth Jensen (Fuller). "Deb and Beth have been two of the best shepherds and supporters of Sioux Falls Thrive over the years," says Thrive President Michelle Erpenbach. "I'm grateful for their guidance from Thrive's creation in 2017 to its role today as an innovative leader in finding solutions for some of our community's toughest issues." Thank you, Deb and Beth, for your dedication to Thrive's mission!

This is the first food gleaning project for Sioux Falls Thrive and the Eat Well Sioux Falls Mobile Market, but the hope is to continue the project and expand it to stretch more harvests and help the community. “This is all about food security. The food deserts in the community of Sioux Falls are growing exponentially, particularly when we lose some of our major grocers,” Michelle Erpenbach, Sioux Falls Thrive President, said. “This is just one more piece of that puzzle. If we can build a system around food security in this community, it lifts everyone. Everyone does better if everyone has access to food.” Thank you to Lauren Soulek from KELOLAND Media Group for stopping to visit us and report on this cool story! To learn more about Thrive's Gleaning Project, check out siouxfallsgardens.org. #eatwellsf

We're excited to bring you Sioux Falls Youth Connect, a website designed to connect middle- and high-school students with activities across the Sioux Empire! Visit sfyouthconnect.org to learn more, to include your organization's activities, or to find an activity that's right for you or your student or child.