Friends of the Children-He Sapa is located in the sacred Black Hills, the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary homelands of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires). This tribal alliance comprised is based on kinship, location and dialects: Santee-Dakota, Yankton-Nakota and Teton- Lakota. We acknowledge the sovereignty of the nine federally recognized Native Nations in South Dakota: Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Flandreau Santee, Lower Brule, Oglala, Rosebud, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Standing Rock and Yankton Sioux Tribes. This has always been and will continue to be HOME because the land contains the blood of our ancestors. We have two distinct locations; our headquarters is in He Sapa (Rapid City) and our other site is located on the Pine Ridge Reservation –the Oglala Lakota Nation site. Together with partner agencies in He Sapa and the Oglala Lakota Nation, Friends–He Sapa is in process of enrolling 32 children and families into our program: 16 youth in He Sapa and 16 youth in Oglala Lakota Nation. We will enroll 32 additional children in the fall of 2023, for a total of 64 youth served at the He Sapa site this year. We expect to enroll new cohorts of youth each year moving forward.