MCLAUGHLIN, S.D. – Although this past winter was warmer than usual on the Standing Rock Reservation, which straddles the border of South Dakota and North Dakota, there were still three weeks in December of 20-below temperatures at night and snows that lasted from October to March.
In previous winters, invariably several deaths occurred among the homeless who had no shelter except for abandoned cars and buildings. That changed this past winter, when the first-ever homeless shelter on the reservation opened Nov. 10.
Originally located on Main Street in McLaughlin, the One Spirit Homeless Shelter was sandwiched between a bar and the Boys & Girls Club. The small building had two sleeping rooms, a small front room and a tiny kitchen; the bathroom lacked a shower. There were no beds and people slept rolled up in blankets. But the place was kept warm with electric heaters and was far better than sleeping on the street.
Shelter Director Doug Wilkinson, a BIA police officer, explained the need for a shelter. “The homeless had no safe place to sleep. They used to sleep in an abandoned trailer on the edge of town and in boarded-up HUD housing in town, but it wasn’t safe because people would come in and assault them.”
Darnell Hayes, assistant director of the shelter, said, “Doug came to me and asked for help opening a shelter. I’ve been homeless here and across the United States, so I know what it’s like. I agreed to help him. He had found a building, and we cleaned it up. Then on a cold winter night … he came to my house at 11 p.m. and said there were people who needed to stay there, so that’s when we opened it up.”
On the day after Christmas, the directors of the shelter were able to secure a four-bedroom house in Bear Soldier District Housing on the west side of town. The former shelter opened as a thrift store on Feb. 1. Hayes runs the thrift store, which he named the Thrift Shop.
The Thrift Shop brings in about $300 to $400 a month, according to Hayes. The money is used to pay for incidental expenses for residents of the shelter and for electricity at the store.
The One Spirit Homeless Shelter pays the district $100 in rent monthly. The money comes from donations. Electricity and water are paid for by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
The shelter is, ironically, on a street lined with boarded-up housing. The houses were partly renovated but unfinished because of an ongoing dispute between the contractor, who was doing renovation work, and the tribe.
A change in the way the Standing Rock BIA jail handles intoxicated persons made the need for a shelter more important, especially in the cold winter months. The jail no longer allows intoxicated people to stay overnight for a “sleeper.”
No drinking is allowed at the shelter, although people are allowed to come in intoxicated. Rules posted at the entrance say no alcohol is allowed in the house. The rules posted inside say that if one is intoxicated, they cannot go into the kitchen area. They are told to go in one of the back bedrooms and go to sleep. Anyone caught bringing a bottle in is expelled for five days, but not taken to jail.
Being able to enter while intoxicated sets this shelter apart from those in larger cities in South Dakota, such as the Cornerstone Rescue Mission in Rapid City, where people are given a Breathalyzer test when they come in and if they are intoxicated they are given the choice to leave, to go to the county detox or go to jail. The Salvation Army shelter in Sioux Falls does not take in intoxicated people, but complaints from neighbors last summer almost caused the loss of its permit last winter.
Hayes said, “Just because someone is drunk, that’s no reason they should have to stay outside and die.”
Food at the shelter is provided by a food bank, donations from local people and residents who give the shelter their U.S. Department of Agriculture-issued commodities. The new shelter has a large kitchen with a stove, fridge and microwave. Two women employed under the tribe’s Tribal Work Experience Program cook breakfast and a noon meal. People can come in and eat at any time of the day.
The new shelter has a living room with a donated television and two couches. There are four bedrooms: one for women, two for men and one for Smokey Whitebull, a resident who keeps on eye on those coming in and enforces the rules. If there is a problem with one of the residents, Wilkinson is called in.
The basic rules of the shelter, according to Wilkinson, are that no disorderly conduct is allowed and people must be responsible for their behavior. He and Hayes enforce the rules, as do residents such as Whitebull, who watch the shelter while the directors are absent.
Residents are expected to cook, wash dishes and clean the shelter. Responsibility is stressed by the directors.
One resident said, “Doug tells us, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’”
Unlike shelters such as the Cornerstone Rescue Mission, where the sleeping rooms are closed early in the morning and people either have to be working or out looking for work, here people can come and go during the day. On nice days, most are out by 9 a.m. to walk around, visit people or look for odd jobs to earn money. They are allowed to periodically stop back in to eat, watch television and visit.
There’s a 10 p.m. closing time for the shelter, although generally people are also let in after closing time. Wilkinson holds prayer services at nights. His strong Christian beliefs motivated him to open the shelter.
He said, “Jesus helped the downtrodden. All of these people have had their ups and downs in life; no matter how low someone is, they should be given another chance in life.”
One resident said, “He doesn’t preach to us, he just talks to us and ask us about our problems.”
Hayes, who volunteers at least eight hours each day at the Thrift Shop, said that a lot of what he does is listening to shelter residents talk about their problems. He said in return for his respecting them, he expects their respect for him and the shelter’s rules.
Usually there are about five regular residents at the shelter; others come and go, depending on their circumstances. Some have gotten into a dispute with their partners or spouses and stay until the matter blows over. Others don’t have a way to get home to the surrounding communities, either because it’s too late to walk or they can’t find a ride.
While the rules at One Spirit Homeless Shelter may differ from those found in large cities, they seem to work for the reservation where most things are done differently to fit into the culture. The people who stay at the shelter, whether temporarily or long term, welcome it as a place they can get a meal, sleep at night and enjoy the company of others who do not judge them for their situations in life.
