Eight young people across the Pine Ridge Reservation are currently participating in a construction internship program that is facilitated in partnership with Lakota Funds and the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition. In mid-June, the interns were placed among three local building contractors – Lakota Cabins, Mendoza Construction, and Sod’s Mechanical […]
Request for Proposals: Strategic Planning Facilitation
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING FACILITATION Lakota Funds was established in 1986 as the first Native American Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Lakota Funds provides small business loans to new start-up and growing businesses. Helping entrepreneurs on and within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Lakota Funds […]
Tawney Brunsch Named Emerging Leader of the Year
Lakota Funds Executive Director, Tawney Brunsch, received the Emerging Leader Award during the 18th Annual National NeighborWorks® Excellence Awards ceremony that highlights the work of leaders and the organizations they serve as a way of celebrating significant accomplishments. Specifically, The Emerging Leader Award recognizes an Executive Director or […]
New Initiative Aims to Increase Homeownership on Rosebud Reservation
With funding support from NeighborWorks America, five organizations located on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations – Lakota Federal Credit Union, Lakota Funds, Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial, Sicangu Wicoti Awanyakapi Corporation, and Tatanka Funds – have joined together to launch the Rosebud Homeownership and Wealth Building Initiative, which will […]
Historic Water, Light and Power Building Under New Ownership
Jason (Oglala Lakota) and Resa Rutz recently purchased one of the Picture City’s historic sandstone structures, the Water, Light and Power Company building located on North River Street. Polished Salon & Spa, owned by Resa, relocated to the building’s newly remodeled ground floor suite this summer. The […]
Homeownership Services Now Offered at New Oglala Lakota Artspace Building
The Lakota Federal Credit Union and Lakota Funds have opened second locations at the new Oglala Lakota Arts Center, which is just west of the Pine Ridge Chamber building. While these additional offices will focus on supporting Lakota families who are pursuing homeownership, the main locations for […]
Lakota Funds Receives Certification from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Lakota Funds recently became a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency through Oweesta Corporation’s Native Homeownership Network, the only national housing counseling network comprised exclusively of Native-led organizations seeking to increase homeownership for Native Americans. “This provides our community members with a local resource they can turn to for […]
A Decade-Old Dream Comes True, Thanks to Persistence and Partnership
Bill and Sandra Cummings start Whispering Pines Bed, Breakfast & Outfitters in South Dakota Badlands. Ten years ago, Bill Cummings (Oglala Lakota) had a dream to purchase a 186-acre site that had previously operated as a camping and cabin resort just outside of the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. […]
Local Organizations Discuss Upcoming Relief Fund Payments
In anticipation of the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s (OST’s) disbursement of individual relief payments to tribal members, the Lakota Federal Credit Union and Lakota Funds met with the Tribe’s Media Relations Department. The discussion, which also included a segment with OST President, Kevin Killer, was broadcast as a […]
Celebrating Native American Homeownership!
With National Homeownership Month getting under way, the Lakota Federal Credit Union and Lakota Funds are celebrating increased rates of Native American homeownership on the Pine Ridge Reservation. An analysis of data gathered by the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition indicated that homeownership rates in South Dakota’s reservation communities […]