Sanford Health pledges $2 million to Children’s Home Society for their Rapid City campus – Rapid City, South Dakota | News, Weather and Sports

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Sanford Health has pledged $2 million to the Children’s Home Society of South Dakota (CHS) to support its developing campus on Mount Rushmore Road.

The donation was announced Monday and will assist with the renovation of the former National American University campus, which CHS acquired in 2023. Work began last year renovate the site into a central hub for child welfare services in the Black Hills region.

“We count ourselves very lucky to have partners like Sanford Health,” said Jon Mammenga, Chief Philanthropy Officer for CHS.

The interior of the facility, dubbed “Hope in the Hills,” covers approximately 114,000 square feet. For several decades, CHS has operated its Residential Treatment program out of a facility in the center of the Black Hills near Rockerville while maintaining separate offices in Rapid City for outpatient services, foster care, and the Child Advocacy Center. Mammenga says the renovation is critical to solving those logistical challenges.

“We decided a couple years ago that we needed to move into Rapid City for a number of different reasons, one of which was to get all of our services under one roof,” Mammenga said.

Sanford Health recently announced a new campus of its own just down the road, a $500 million medical center expected to open in 2030. While the medical giant is expanding its footprint in the region, Mammenga assures the public that this collaboration does not signal a merger.

“I don’t see a time when Children’s Home would be absorbed by Sanford,” Mammenga said, “While what we do is very similar in caring for people that need our services, the services that we offer are much different… We can’t offer what we offer and have the impact that we have without these community partnerships, which is why we’re so excited to partner with Sanford.”

The $2 million from Sanford will be used to offset costs of construction that is already underway. Crews have already stripped much of the interior down to the studs and will soon be moving to the second and final phase of the project. The goal is to be fully operational by the end of the year.

The Children’s Home Society was founded in 1893 and is often misunderstood by the public due to its name. Mammenga clarified that the facility is not an orphanage, but a treatment center for children with severe behavioral and emotional needs.

“We actually evolved from an orphanage. The orphanage model was used in the mid-20th century, and then what happened was it evolved into residential treatment,” Mammenga explained, “We serve kids that are ages 4 to 14, that are either referred from the state and DSS or from parents… We offer education, we offer residential treatment, we offer therapy that’s both for the kid and for the family.”

Once the renovations are complete, the Rockerville facility will close permanently. The property has already been sold, though the buyer is allowing CHS to remain on-site until the new campus is ready.

Per grew up in Sioux Falls and graduated from South Dakota Mines. He found his passion for weather reporting by the impact it has on the community, both in how people work and how it brings people together through severe weather preparation. He also has a passion for preventing health issues with Air Quality Index awareness. Per can be found enjoying outdoor activities in the Black Hills when the weather allows.