What We Do

The Allen Youth Center has been providing a safe and welcoming environment for children and families on Pine Ridge since 2015. There is always something going on at the Allen Youth Center!

Some offerings include:
- Classes and workshops on things like art, technology, and Lakota culture
- Homework help
- Special holiday events
- Recreational activities
- Healthy meals and snacks provided by the One Spirit Food Program

The youth employment program offers young adults the opportunity to leave the reservation to work and live in a new town for the summer to gain work training and experience new surroundings and activities.

Horse Spirit Camp provides traditional Lakota horse activities to children and adults. While lessons include caretaking and riding, participants also learn about self-respect, responsibility, and self-confidence. The goal of these camps is to teach traditional Lakota culture and language to enhance physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health.

This program is dedicated to help alleviate the conditions of poverty for those who live on the reservation by creating job opportunities & helping those with transportation challenges to avoid traveling sometimes hours off the reservation to shop for necessities. In many cases, travel to a city is not an option for people. This provides a one of a kind opportunity to shop locally.

This centrally located market allows the people to choose their own style of clothing and personal items for themselves while keeping the money on the reservation, reinvesting in their community.

In partnership with the Sioux YMCA, Camp Marrowbone is a one-week summer camp for children to spend time outdoors and embrace Lakota culture. Activities include arts and crafts, hiking, outdoor sports, and water activities as well as traditional Lakota education and traditions.

Many homes on Pine Ridge rely on wood burning stoves as their sole source of heat and cooking fuel during below-zero winters. One Spirit hires Lakota workers, provides them with necessary equipment, then pays them to deliver harvested firewood to homes in need.

Connecting 10 to 15-year-olds from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota with hosts in the Greater Boston area for 9 days of exploration and discovery, building friendships and engagement through shared activities of interest.

In 2016, we built the first and only meat processing facility on Pine Ridge Reservation, the Charging Buffalo Meathouse. The facility provides employment opportunities, helps bring back the buffalo herds, and provides healthy, traditional meat.

The Pine Ridge Reservation is one of the poorest areas in the United States. With poverty and unemployment (up to 90%) come hunger, lack of healthy food alternatives, and concomitant health issues such as heart disease and diabetes. The despair of poverty also results in social ills such as drug and alcohol abuse, shorter lifespans, high suicide rates (especially among teens), and a feeling of hopelessness.

The word Okini means to share, that is the Lakota philosophy. The people listed on Okini list are families in need who don't have the resources to buy necessities.

The Okini List gives information on the size of the family, the members living in the home, ages & genders. It also provides specific information about needs such as clothing, household supplies, food, hygiene articles. Families have been ecstatic & grateful when they are chosen.