Tyndall, SD

We are almost there…..working with Noel Hamiel and Bob Sutton of the South Dakota Community Foundation, Tyndall is one more meeting away from turning in some funds to start our Community Foundation. This is a real big deal, although I don’t think most Tyndallites are aware that it is. We have some work to do! Currently we have seven Board of Directors and are considering adding a couple more to help with the initial three to five years. We want to post $100,000 in five years ( hopefully before that) so it will take all of us to work towards that goal. It is a big task. We would never have had the courage or the contacts to do this without the knowledge attained through Horizons. Thanks SDSU and Northwest Area Foundation!

Thank you SDSU and Northwest Area Foundation for the new community Horizons signs given to us !   We have one hanging in our youth center, which has gigantic windows and it looks great.  We are looking for a spot on the highway to put the other one so that we don’t generate additional sign rental from the state….also, the Horizons tabloid about all the communities in the program has been great. We are trying to get them into waiting rooms and offices were they will be read by more people. After two years there are still people who have been living under a rock (apparently) this whole time and they don’t know much about what we have just accomplished as a community……still work to do.

A committee of mostly new volunteers, but spearheaded by Horizons leader and school teacher Chad Jodozi, is working on a new daycare facility for the town. We have had a couple of daycares discontinue, so this committee is making a gigantic effort to provide additional daycare to the already great daycare providers we have left. We all know that if we want our towns to stabilize and maybe grow, we have to have daycare for the families with both parents working full-time out of the home. This is essential. There are some worried individuals that think that this new facility will take business away from the other daycares but we have to provide adequate spaces. The city has been working with the group and is offering their full support. This facility will provide one more full-time job and some part-time jobs to the community.

TCF - the Tyndall Community Foundation!  This is actually becoming a reality with the interim board of directors working on bylaws and meeting weekly ….We have seven board members from the community, some who participated in Horizons.  We are working with the South Dakota Community Foundation with Noel Hamel serving as our contact.  This is exciting and nerve-wracking.  We have to raise 100,000 dollars in five years….let’s see, how many bake sales is that?   Ever forward….

Tyndall’s Cavalier Corner is offering a GED program this fall!  They are teaming up with Joblink out of Yankton and to date there are seven individuals that have signed up for the program.  We know how important a high school education is and this program will hopefully help these people get a leg up so they can move forward with their education and work possibilities.  We all learned through Horizons the importance of education in the fight to reduce poverty and it is clear as crystal how true that is. Anyone needing info on setting up GED in your area, go to your school district and get started there.