Simplified: The St. Francis House is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise $10 million for a planned "Healing Home Campus." Here's how that facility aims to help people move from homelessness to stability with structured, supportive housing.

Why it matters

  • The St. Francis House has added 48 beds in the last six years, but there are still – as of earlier this year – more than 240 people on a waitlist to get into the facility. And, as the city grows, that's not slowing down, CEO Julie Becker said.
  • Healing Home Campus, which will be located adjacent to the current facility east of downtown, is expected to add 38 one-bedroom efficiency units, as well as several spaces for partner nonprofits to provide a wide range of services.
  • The campus will also feature a "Donation Depot" to help streamline the work St. Francis House is already doing in collecting donations and re-distributing them to nonprofits across town. It's all illustrative of a broader, community-wide effort to see more collaboration among nonprofits to set the city up for success in the future, Becker said.
"Many of us are looking at (retirement) in the next 10 years," Becker said of herself and other nonprofit leaders in the city. "Our focus is, as a united front, how do we want to leave a legacy for the next generation of leaders in our work?"

Tell me more about the Healing Home Campus

The facility is designed to support the needs of St. Francis House guests. Key features include:

  • A workforce lab with computer access and employment support,
  • A fitness room,
  • A nurse station for both in-person and telehealth consultations
  • A multi-purpose community room that various nonprofit partners can use for programming,
  • A donation depot where folks can drop off donations to be sorted and distributed to where they're most needed,
  • And a Native American cultural room where smudging ceremonies can take place.

The full project is expected to cost $10 million, Becker said. So far, the St. Francis House has raised more than $1 million, and this fall, they'll start a Chamber Appeals Campaign with a goal to raise another $1.5 million.

  • Becker said the nonprofit has also applied for about $5 million in grants to support affordable housing, and they're exploring other financing options and potential matching grants as well.

Tell me more about partner nonprofits

The St. Francis House is partnering with more than half a dozen other nonprofits to make this project possible.

  • Those include Avera, the state department of social services, South Dakota Urban Indian Health, Face It Together, Midwest Street Medicine, Southeast Technical College, St. Dysmas and more.

St. Francis House handles the shelter, sobriety, employment and helping people pay off debts. Other organizations come in to supplement those efforts and expand the options for guests to find stability and support.

Becker said the need for these services is growing, and the return on investment for helping folks find stability rather than falling back into homelessness or incarceration is huge.

  • In the last 10 years, St. Francis House guests have repaid more than $3.7 million in debt, and most of those guests are from South Dakota.
"It's not, 'if you build it they will come,'" Becker said. "They're already here. They're our people."

What happens next?

The St. Francis House is hosting a series of informational "Stories of Hope" events in the coming weeks to give folks an opportunity to hear firsthand how the nonprofit has transformed lives in our community.

  • You can learn more and RSVP for these events, or schedule your own group tour by emailing healinghome@stfrancishouse.com.

Learn more about the Healing Home Campus on the St. Francis House website.