Friends of the Children - He Sapa

10/20/2026

We are proud to announce the release of our Impact Report! 🎉

Since opening our doors in 2022, we have been building something special alongside the Indigenous youth, families, and communities we serve. Our 2026 Impact Report shares the milestones, meaningful relationships, and moments of growth that have shaped our journey.

From culturally grounded learning experiences to strengthening families and creating opportunities for our Wakanyeja (children), this report is a celebration of what is possible when a community comes together with a shared commitment to generational change.

❤️ We invite you to take a look! Explore our impact, celebrate our youth, and see how your support is helping us build a stronger future.

As we approach the end of 2026, we invite you to be part of what comes next. Our commitment to walking alongside youth and families for the long term is only possible through the generosity of people who believe in this work.

🎁 Consider making a year-end gift today. Every contribution is an investment in Indigenous youth, stronger families, and future generations of cycle breakers.

Generational change does not happen alone. Together, we are making it possible.

10/16/2026

🌟 Board Member Spotlight: Ruth Cedar Face 🌟

At Friends of the Children–He Sapa, we believe that lasting, generational change begins with strong relationships, community connections, and leadership rooted in a commitment to our children and families.

Today, we are proud to highlight Ruth Cedar Face, a valued member of our Board of Directors!

Ruth is part of a dedicated group of leaders who help guide our mission of walking alongside Indigenous youth and families, creating opportunities for our wakȟáŋyeža (children) to thrive while honoring the strength, resilience, and cultural identity of our communities.

Our Board of Directors plays an essential role in ensuring that the promises we make to our youth and families are supported by thoughtful leadership, accountability, and a shared vision for the future.

Thank you, Ruth, for sharing your time, perspective, and commitment to the next generation!❤️

Together, we are building a future where Indigenous children and families are supported, celebrated, and empowered to reach their fullest potential.

Learn more about our mission at www.friendshesapa.org

10/12/2026

Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day with Our Youth and Families 🧡

One of our favorite traditions at Friends of the Children–He Sapa is participating in the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Parade in Rapid City! It's a day filled with community, culture, laughter, and pride as we come together to celebrate the strength, resilience, and beauty of Indigenous peoples.

We want to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to Rapid Trailer for their generous donation of a trailer for our youth, families, and mentors to participate in this year's parade! Your kindness helps make these special memories possible. ❤️

And while this is one of our favorite events of the year, we've learned one thing about our youth... they haven't quite mastered the art of candy distribution! 🍬😂 Somehow, all the candy gets thrown out at the very beginning, and we're running on empty before we even make it halfway through the parade route, but their excitement and enthusiasm are what make this day so much fun!

At Friends of the Children–He Sapa, we believe that moments like these matter. Creating opportunities for our youth and families to celebrate their identities, strengthen their connections to community, and experience joy together is an important part of our commitment to the next generation.

Wopila Tanka to Rapid Trailer for helping us show up for our community and make another year of memories! 🧡

10/10/2026

Did you catch it? 👀

Make sure to read about one of our incredible board members! Jade’s guidance, patience and expertise has brought immeasurable strength to our chapter.

Wopila Tanka Dr. Herman for all you do

By Mitchell “Stitch” Stafford RAPID CITY, S.D. — Ask Jade Herman to explain who she is, and her first instinct might be to answer with a song lyric. “My

10/08/2026

Did You Know: Only 0.25% of philanthropic funding by large foundations goes to a ? Your support makes an impact on Native-led orgs. This , will you uplift our work by sharing our stories or making a donation?

Check out our page here: https://www.givenative.org/organization/Friends-Of-The-Children-He-Sapa

10/01/2026

🧡 Every Child Matters.

Today, on Orange Shirt Day, we remember and honor the Indigenous children who were taken from their families, communities, languages, and cultures and forced into boarding and residential schools. We remember those who never returned home, those who survived, and the generations of families who continue to carry the impacts of these systems.

This evening, Friends of the Children–He Sapa gathered our program youth and families for our final Regalia Making session, a space intentionally created for connection, culture, family, and community.

As our caregivers worked together, our youth gathered to listen to a story and participate in activities centered on a message we want every young person in our program to know:

You matter. Your voice matters. Your story matters. Your culture matters. You belong.

For generations, Indigenous children were subjected to systems designed to separate them from their families, languages, identities, and ways of knowing. Today, we have a responsibility to create something different.

At Friends of the Children–He Sapa, our commitment to lasting change means surrounding our Wakȟáŋyeža with relationships that remind them of their strength and worth. It means creating spaces where families come together, culture is celebrated, and young people are seen, heard, supported, and loved.

Tonight was about more than an activity or a regalia-making session. It was about connection across generations. It was about strengthening the relationships that sustain our children. And it was about making sure our youth grow up knowing something that should never have been taken from any child:

Every child matters. Every child has always mattered. 🧡

09/30/2026

Program Director, Keith Ferguson, enjoyed an afternoon sharing our mission and values with the wonderful staff of Black Hills Energy at the Agency Showcase! 📣

Thank you United Way of the Black Hills for inviting us and highlighting our work to build a greater nation for Indigenous youth and families.

09/22/2026

🎓 Building Stronger Schools Through Stronger Partnerships

Friends of the Children–He Sapa Executive Director Tyresha Grey Horse recently had the opportunity to visit students at Black Hills State University and share about the important role that community partnerships can play in supporting students and families.

As future educators, these students have been building a foundation in culturally responsive teaching, learning to understand not only the realities and challenges students may experience, but also the incredible resilience, strengths, and knowledge they bring into the classroom.

Tyresha shared how Friends of the Children–He Sapa works alongside schools through long-term, relationship-based professional mentoring and meaningful family engagement. When educators, families, and community organizations work together, we can build stronger networks of support around young people, helping students feel seen, supported, connected, and empowered to succeed.

We are grateful for opportunities like this to speak with future educators about what authentic school-community partnership can look like and how we can collectively support the whole child and whole family.

A special thank you to Dr. Johanna Sailor for inviting us into your classroom and creating space for this important conversation about the power of partnerships. We appreciate the opportunity to share our work with the next generation of educators! 💛

09/21/2026

📖✨ Lakota Storytellers: Our Youth Becoming Authors

Stories have always carried more than words. They carry teachings, identity, memory, and connection from one generation to the next.

Thanks to funding from the Innovation Grant through Black Hills Reads, Friends of the Children–He Sapa brought youth and caregivers together for our Lakota Storytellers event, an intergenerational gathering centered on culture, literacy, and the power of our own stories.

We began the day with Indigenous poet and engineer Anpo Jensen, who shared excerpts from her book Hero Dreams Shine and invited our youth to think about the stories they carry within themselves.

Youth learned that, traditionally, winter was a time when Lakota people gathered together and shared stories passing along wisdom, teachings, values, and history. Then came an exciting announcement:

Today, they would all become authors. ✍🏽📚

Our youth began creating their own stories, with caregivers joining them in this sacred act of storytelling. Together, generations imagined, wrote, shared, and created, demonstrating that literacy can be about much more than learning to read and write. It can also be a way to strengthen culture, relationships, identity, and belonging.

And their work isn't finished yet!

The stories and illustrations created by our youth will be compiled into a book of their own, which will be available in the coming months. We cannot wait to share what these young authors have created.

At Friends of the Children–He Sapa, we believe our youth deserve opportunities to see themselves not only in the books they read, but as the authors, artists, engineers, poets, and storytellers creating what comes next.

Pilamaya to Anpo Jensen, Black Hills Reads, our caregivers, and everyone who helped make this gathering possible. ❤️

09/16/2026

📚 Many hands. One shared commitment to literacy.

We are incredibly grateful to the volunteers from Rotary who gave their time and energy to help us assemble our Raising a Reader book bags for Friends of the Children–He Sapa youth and families!

Raising a Reader helps families build strong literacy habits by bringing books into the home and encouraging children and caregivers to read, explore, and learn together. These book bags are more than materials, they are another opportunity to strengthen the connection between learning, family, and a child’s future.

At Friends of the Children–He Sapa, our commitment to literacy is a commitment to long-term change. We know meaningful outcomes are built over time: one relationship, one book, one family, and one opportunity at a time.

That is why the hours our Rotary volunteers contributed matter so much. Their service helps us expand what we can provide to our families and moves us closer to our collective outcome: supporting strong Indigenous families and helping young people become cycle breakers who will create change for generations to come.

To our Rotary volunteers: Wopila — thank you. Your time, your hands, and your belief in this work are helping us build something much bigger than book bags. ❤️📚

Want to be part of this work? Whether through volunteering, partnering with us, or making a financial contribution, your support helps us continue investing in strengthening families, and walking alongside our youth for the long haul.

Learn more or support our work at www.friendshesapa.org.