$2,200 awarded to Sotera Youth & Family Services to help families in central South Dakota

The South Dakota Community Foundation recently awarded a $2,200 South Dakota Fund grant to Sotera Youth & Family Services. Funding will support a group curriculum that would be offered to families in Central South Dakota relating to difficult parenting issues affected by child abuse and neglect.

“The support from the South Dakota Community Foundation will allow Sotera to continue providing quality curriculum and education to Foster Families in the Pierre and Fort Pierre area. We continue to strive to provide training and supplies for our families in need and welcome the opportunity for partnership,” states Kristen Campbell, Assistant Executive Director, Sotera Youth & Family Services.

The mission of Sotera is to provide a safe and welcoming community center in Central South Dakota, with the aim of supporting and strengthening area families through collaboration with local professionals and engaging the community. In early 2021, Governor Kristi Noem initiated the “Stronger Families Together” campaign. “Stronger Families Together” is a call to action to recruit, prepare, and support foster and adoptive families. Families supporting families is a shared value in South Dakota. There is an ongoing shortage of foster families in Central South Dakota and by providing this support center it is their hope to change that outcome for the future of South Dakota’s kids.

“The curriculum set forth by Sotera will help foster parents develop the necessary social connections and feel more confident as parents,” says Ginger Niemann, SDCF Senior Program Officer, “These families need our support, and we are happy to assist them on their mission and goals.”

To learn more about funding opportunities offered by the SDCF, please visit our website at https://www.sdcommunityfoundation.org/.