LIFE INITIATIVES is a non-profit organization which seeks to EQUIP people and encourage RECONCILIATION. We provide a place for you if any of these describe you:

1-Your life is hard and you could use a partner to improve your situation.

2-You want to offer yourself in partnership (whether you're Native or Non-Native), you have the ability to encourage others, but you also realize you have a lot to learn, and you're ready to grow in the process.

3-You're an employer and you're willing to take a few risks to make a real difference in the lives of your employees.

4-You want to provide funds to help impact lives long-term and make a lasting difference.

 

Our vision is to facilitate partnerships which equip people for a better life, and which lead to reconciliation between Native and Non-Native people in South Dakota. We seek to implement that in three main areas of activity:

1. LIFE INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIPS – we facilitate partnerships that provide encouragement and networking for both Lakota and non-native people. These are individual one-on-one or small group partnerships. The partners may be inter-cultural, or with people from the same culture. Required training is offered in Lakota culture, the dynamics of generational poverty, and other topics. The organization will help volunteers get paired with partners who want a mentor.

2. DEVELOP PARNTERSHIPS WITH EMPLOYERS – We will develop strategies with employers who want to invest in the lives of employees who have a background of generational poverty.

3. PARTNERSHIP FUNDS FOR HOUSING, EDUCATION, AND MICRO-ENTERPRISE - We are seeking to partner with other institutions to provide participants with funds for the down-payment on housing, college tuition, or establishing their own business.

There are several ways to Get Involved.

 

Whether we are inside the Lakota Nation, or seeking to understand it from the outside, it's imperative to know the history of the Lakota people. We must appreciate the undaunted courage, the enduring spirit of survival, and the happy spirit of laughter among the Lakota. We must also appreciate the depth and breadth of challenges this people faces:

INJUSTICE has been a crippling force – both the generations of wrongs done to the Lakota by non-native people and power structures, as well as injustice from within some Native power structures.

GENERATIONAL POVERTY (in whatever culture it is found) becomes a self-generating force for failure if not properly understood and addressed.

SUBSTANCE AND SEXUAL ABUSE also present formidable barriers to taking the initiative for a better life.

But the Lakota people are here, still proud, still strong, still surviving, in the face of inestimable difficulties. And the victory of a better life will come.

Life Initiatives, Inc exists as a partnership between Native and Non-Native people to address these challenges with confidence and realism. Few people have the fortitude to simply “will” themselves past these barriers to a better life, but with the support of one another, with spiritual strength, and with a clear strategy, we can take the initiative for a better life. Get involved.