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The Sioux YMCA Initiative began nine years ago as a way to provide day-camp type programming for the children living in various communities on the reservation. For 12 weeks each summer, the Twin Cities YMCA coordinates with the Y staff, who journey to the reservation and conduct programming, according to a press release.
The immersion provides Y staff with an understanding of cultural and socio-economic realities with which they have little previous experience, according to a press release.
“The welcome we received, both from the kids in the communities and the Sioux Y staff and board members, was incredible,” said Greene in a press release. "Each day was spent driving miles on the hard-packed gravel roads out to the various communities, which included Cherry Creek, Bear Creek, Swiftbird, White Horse and Thunder Butte. Once Team 1 arrived in a community, they would round up whoever wanted to play that day and settle in for a couple hours of fun."
“The kids were excited to have people who were there just to play with them, and we were there to make them happy,” said Morrissey in a press release.
The Sioux YMCA, housed in a small 2,500 square-foot building, currently services an area of more than 5,000 square miles, roughly the size of Connecticut, according to a press release.
“We were so excited to be able to extend the work of the Sioux Y, especially after seeing the respect the Y has in the community because of all of the amazing work they do,” said Morrissey in a press release.
For more information about the Darien YMCA, visit darien-ymca.org.
For more information about the Sioux YMCA initiative, visit www.siouxymca.org.
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