YMCA Alumni, Sioux YMCA Break Ground for Tiny Home Village May 19 In S.D.

DUPREE, S.D., May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Retirees from YMCA professional careers across the country will join the Sioux YMCA Board of Directors and tribal leaders Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 1 p.m. (Central Time) to break ground for what has become the most ambitious project in the 100-year history of YMCA Alumni.

The first-ever multi-year YMCA Alumni National Service Project has a goal of funding and building a tiny home village to help alleviate the extreme housing insecurity on the Cheyenne Sioux Reservation. The site is adjacent to the YMCA's program center in Dupree, S.D. The project includes building seven homes on the site as well as several small Y program centers across the Reservation.

"Our members began work on this project two years ago by identifying some 36 potential projects that would challenge individuals and chapters in many ways," said YMCA Alumni President Jean Carmichael. "This project allows members to participate in numerous ways, onsite in Dupree helping to build the village and programs centers and by participating at home in fundraising and numerous planning committees."

The Smudging and Groundbreaking Ceremony brings the project to the point where actual building of the homes can begin in earnest. "Smudging" is a sacred Native American ritual to rid places of negative energy and to bless the site.

George Painter, who chairs the Project Management Committee, will lead six groups of 10-20 volunteers during each of six weeks between May and October in hopes of completing the first tiny home prototype and basic infrastructure in the new village. Construction will go on for at least the next few years with an additional fundraising effort set for next January.

YMCA Alumni is a century-old association of about 1,500 retired YMCA professional staff members that provides educational, social and charitable opportunities for its members. The project has received overwhelming support as members raised $500,000 earlier this year in their initial fundraising effort.

The Sioux YMCA will own and manage the new 20 x16-foot energy-efficient tiny homes and will make decisions on the terms of each specific lease. The priority for selection of residents will be the tribal population, some of whom also may be Y employees or volunteers, thus addressing both the acute housing shortage and significant unemployment.

Contact: Craig Altschul + Associates
[email protected] 
(505) 210-0514

SOURCE YMCA Alumni