Prior Lake, Minnesota - Families on the Pine Ridge Reservation will have homes for the cold South Dakota winter due in part to a grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. The SMSC announces a grant for $10,000 to Pathways to Spirit, a charitable organization based in Colorado which transports donated mobile homes to the reservation and assists with their set up. Pathways to Spirit also assists in getting utilities hooked up as well as blocking, leveling, and skirting the mobile homes. By the end of 2006, Pathways will have provided 203 families with a home. Pathways also provides food, school supplies, appliances, furniture, and other household items to those in need.

The SMSC donated $10,000 to Pathways to Spirit in 2002, $20,000 in 2003, and $20,000 in 2004, and $20,000 in 2005. In 2004 they provided 50 homes to the reservation with the bulk of them being transported because of the SMSC donation. In 2005 18 were transported, with 22 by the end of 2006.

"Housing in Indian Country is sadly lacking for many people. Overcrowded conditions make life difficult and organizations like Pathways to Spirit make a difference," said SMSC Tribal Chairman Stanley Crooks.

For more information about Pathways to Spirit, contact Carmeen Klausner at 970-282-8573 or go to www.pathwaystospirit.org.

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