RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The South Dakota Department of Human Services is launching the South Dakota Dementia-Capable Communities Initiative with a $1 million Alzheimer’s Disease Program grant to help people with the disease and their caregivers.

The Initiative will address critical needs to improve support systems for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias and also help support their caregivers.

The initiative will also help people have better access to necessary services.

To achieve this goal, the Long Term Supports and Services division of the Department of Human Services will start two pilot programs, one in Belle Fourche and one in Aberdeen.

“If we can have this work in Aberdeen, and then we can take it the next year to Belle Fourche. If we can make it work in those communities, we can replicate that then in other small rural communities too,” said the LTSS Director of the South Dakota Department of Human Services Heather Krzmarzick.

The Long Term Supports and Services division, in support of their grant application, received letters of commitment from various organizations including the South Dakota chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and businesses in both Belle Fourche and Aberdeen.

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