In the midst of an extreme housing shortage, it is estimated that the Pine Ridge Reservation needs an additional 4,000 homes to provide adequate housing for residents. With a virtually nonexistent residential real estate market, families are commonly on the waiting list for low-income tribal housing for two-plus years. In […]
Free Tax Service Aims to Maximize Refunds for Reservation Residents
Lakota Funds and the Lakota Federal Credit Union are partnering again this year to facilitate a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site that will offer free tax preparation services to those who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation and neighboring areas.
“This is a critical service that helps fuel
Oglala Lakota Artspace LLC to Host Groundbreaking for First-Ever Arts Center on Pine Ridge Reservation
The Oglala Lakota Artspace LLC — comprised of Artspace, First Peoples Fund, and Lakota Funds — announced today the groundbreaking ceremony for the first-ever arts center on the geographically vast Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota: The Oglala Lakota Artspace. The arts facility is designed to provide local Native artists […]
Free Tax Service Brings Over $1 Million to Reservation, Receives Award from IRS
With tax season wrapping up, Lakota Funds and the Lakota Federal Credit Union are celebrating the success of their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site where they offer free tax preparation services to residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation and neighboring areas. By the end of tax season, they filed […]
Statewide Youth Business Plan Competition Celebrates 10th Year with Most Entries Ever
This year the statewide business plan competition, a part of the annual Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI) that takes place every December, celebrated its 10th year with 33 competitors – nearly double last year and more than any other previous year. The participating students represented White River, Red Cloud, Little Wound, […]
Family Celebrates Homeownership this Holiday Season
This holiday season, Cynthia Plenty Bull and her daughter will be celebrating in the same house they have lived in for the past six years. But this year, they will call the home their own. Cynthia is the first tenant in the 30-unit Eagle Nest Housing Development, originally built in […]
An Oglala Sioux Veteran’s Journey to Homeownership
In our role with the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition, Lakota Funds is actively working to create homeownership opportunities for Native Americans throughout the state, and specifically for Native American veterans. One of our first successes in this initiative was partnering with Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial to support George O’Rourke, […]
Lakota Funds Deploys 1st Agricultural Loan
James Two Crow (Oglala Sioux), a loyal Lakota Funds client since 2002, was the first to tap into our new Farm Service Agency guaranteed loan program. He utilized this agricultural loan product to purchase 20 bred cows, which symbolize the start of his growing cattle operation just east of Kyle […]
Financial Institutions Partner to Increase Financial Capability and Assets
Lakota Funds and the Lakota Federal Credit Union announced the second year of the Increased Customer Access Partnership Program, which is designed to promote cross marketing between the two organizations in order to expand access to programs and services that support increased financial capability and asset building for individuals and […]
Homeownership: A Path to Freedom and Stability
After nearly a five year journey, January Mathis, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, will soon be moving into a home she can call her own. January’s home is currently one of seven under construction in Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation’s regenerative community just outside of Porcupine, South Dakota, […]