Wanblee, SD                                                                            September, 2019 Pine Ridge Reservation   There is an acute shortage of housing on Pine Ridge and many existing homes have little to no insulation which is dangerous for life in the extremely cold South Dakota winters.   Three trailer homes have been donated, but we must raise $8,000 to move them.  Please help if you can at www.lakotafriendscircle.org/donate   Our Project Manager, Jerome High Horse has been donated three well insulated, furnished trailer homes from the oil fields of North Dakota.  Jerome has chosen three needy families who will situate the trailers on land that they own and be responsible for hook-ups to water and power.  A letter from one of the families is included below.

Each trailer needs to be moved to Wanblee from the town of Pine Ridge, where they are currently located (a trip of around 80 miles) at a cost of $2,000.  All three will also need a set of steps with a platform for each of their two exterior doors (about $500), and some skirting.  We have raised $3,000 so far, but need another $5,000 to complete the project.  We have obtained the necessary insurance coverage for the moves and a waiver of liability from the contractor who is preparing to move the first trailer. He will move the other two as soon as we can raise the remaining funds.   A letter written by one recipient family:   “We are a family of 8, we currently have our own trailer house. It is desperately in need of a lot of repairs. The past harsh winter conditions really did a lot of damage, from the heavy snow, high winds and flooding. Half of the kitchen, half of the living room, main bathroom, and 2 bedrooms doesn’t have electricity. The roof has started to leak from our living room to the main bathroom. The house became unleveled, from our living room, so the whole half of our house, sits a little sideways. The floor began to rot away by our main entrance door, causing the floor to fall apart.   We’ve worked very hard to purchase our home and to maintain it. We’ve done the repairs ourselves. But due to a recent health condition, I lost my job, I’m not able to find employment right now, because I’m still in recovery from treatments for my health. My wife is the only one employed right now. We’ve never had a house from OST housing authority, we’ve always rented, and saved and saved and finally 7 years ago, we bought and paid for our current home in full. Renovating and upgrading it ourselves. But physically and financially we cannot continue to repair our home anymore. We did apply for assistance through FEMA. After all the paperwork, and inspection of our home, we were “not qualified” and denied help. There’s too much work that needs to be done, and it’s very hard for us to have to admit, that we are not capable of doing anymore. We desperately need a new home and we would be so grateful!!   Thank you!”     Please consider partnering with us to provide safe and weather-appropriate housing for three needy families on Pine Ridge before winter sets in.    Information on donating by PayPal, credit card, or check can be found at: www.lakotafriendscircle.org/donate Thank you so much,   Anne Fields Vice President, Lakota Friends Circle   This is the first Lakota Friends Circle newsletter.  If you have already donated to the trailer moving project, thank you so much.  If you believe you have received this message in error or do not wish to receive future mailings, please click the “Unsubscribe” link.