Why Pretty Bird Woman House Needs a House

The Pretty Bird Woman House is a women's shelter on South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Reservation. It opened in January of 2005.

For the past 2 years, it has been struggling financially. Part of this is because it is new, and part is because of the budget cuts that the all human services organizations have experienced under the Bush Administration. The shelter was in danger of closing May, but the netroots got together and chipped in so it could stay open until it received a 3-year Federal grant in the fall. That was an amazing story. See MacFishPagan's post below for more on that.

What then happened was that the building in which the shelter was housed was vandalized by thieves who smashed through the walls so often in the process of stealing everything that wasn't nailed down that it became unsafe for anyone to stay there. To add insult to injury, somebody torched the building the day after they moved out. So this is why Pretty Bird Woman House needs a new house.

IN THE MEANTIME, THE STAFF OF THIS SHELTER ARE JUST TOO TOUGH TO GIVE UP. They have been driving women to shelters off of the reservation, which strains the capacity of those shelters and reduces the staff's ability to serve the women of Standing Rock, partly due to the distances and time involved in transporting the women.

The Tribal Council has provided the shelter with free office space and storage for their furniture while they look for a safe permanent home, but this is often easier said than done in an area with chronic housing shortages.

Luckily, there are two houses available to buy, one for $50,000 and one for $60,000. One is across from a police station, which is the safest place to be in an area the size of Connecticut that is usually patrolled by only 2 police officers. We are trying to raise $70,000 so we can pay for an electric fence and a security system for whichever house is available.

Here's the amazing work that the 3 shelter staff have done only this year:

* Served a total of 614 women with education and services.
* Answered 397 crisis calls
* Provided emergency shelter to 188 women and 132 children.
* Helped 23 women obtain restraining orders, 10 get divorces, and 16 get medical
assistance
* Provided court advocacy support for 28 women, and
* Conducted community education programs for 360 women.

They are also working on more general issues, such as improving the way the police respond to and report on sexual assaults, and doing education programs in local schools.

At this time of the year, there are always more domestic violence cases to deal with. Georgia and her staff have been touched by the generosity of everyone who has stepped up to help them. Couldn't we all do a little more right now with our end of the year giving, so they can have a house for the women by the end of January? Thank you all so much for your caring and generosity. This project has renewed my faith in human beings.