Housing solutions: Engage South Dakota

South Dakota Housing offers programs that provide mortgage loans, housing construction and rehabilitation, homelessness prevention, rental assistance, and educational opportunities to help people find and secure a place to call home.

Dakota Resources is a nonprofit that helps rural communities across South Dakota in their efforts to create a thriving economy with strong housing, retail and industrial sectors. The organization, with status as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has a 25-year history of providing financial assistance, leadership training and community-building support to rural and underserved areas across the state.

The Governor's House Program was conceived to provide affordable housing, particularly to those people who are seniors, have disabilities or are low- to moderate-income. Read more about it and whether you qualify.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers a wide range of programs available to South Dakotans who want to build a home, buy a home or find affordable rental properties. HUD has counselors available by phone to help people find housing within their means and for Native Americans seeking to obtain homeownership or rental opportunities.

For qualifying low-income and very low-income residents of South Dakota, the USDA Rural Development program offers mortgage payment assistance to aid in their ability to afford a home. The Single Family Direct Home Loan program offers financial assistance to encourage homeownership.

Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit that combines the money and efforts of volunteers and potential homeowners, seeks to empower qualifying families and individuals with the ability to obtain homeownership. The agency's South Dakota website includes contact information for the following communities: Aberdeen, Brookings, Fort Thompson, Huron, Mitchell, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Watertown and Yankton.

Affordablehousing.com provides contact information and housing program details in 31 communities across South Dakota. The list includes local housing authorities and redevelopment commissions, both of which can help renters and homebuyers in gaining information and potentially access to affordable rental properties and homes as well as public housing assistance.

The state-funded Brownfields program provides funding to assist municipalities, counties or local development agencies in cleaning up and redeveloping properties that have been contaminated by prior use. This link provides important information on which properties might qualify, and how to apply for funding. Redeveloped properties can be used for construction of housing.

Homes Are Possible Inc., or HAPI, uses a mix of public grants and private donations to fuel three separate housing programs that provide grants to income-qualified homeowners to fix up their houses, buy lots and build homes to replace aging or abandoned houses that are torn down and acquire land and develop subdivision infrastructure so HAPI and private construction companies can build homes there.

Contacts: Darin Beckius, executive director of Homes Are Possible Inc., in Aberdeen at 605-225-4274 or Terry Sabers, president of Mitchell Area Housing Inc. at 605-630-1608.

Read how HAPI is helping to solve the housing problem through idea sharing.

The lending organization Lakota Funds makes personal and business loans to tribal members seeking to open or expand a business, which can include housing development. The agency, the nation's first Native Community Development Financial Institution, founded in 1986, provides access to capital, technical assistance, networking and infrastructure.

Redfield, a city of 2,100 in central South Dakota, has been working vigorously to expand housing options for nearly 30 years. The city's model for growth has evolved slowly: from rehabbing one dilapidated house at a time to a current subdivision project with 42 lots.

Cooperation, innovation and a strong work ethic have combined to enable the city to revitalize more than 150 aging properties and to encourage public and private investments in dozens of new homes and apartments.

Construction of new homes, redevelopment of existing housing stock and provision of land to developers are all ways to further efforts to foster community growth.

“We want to get a stronger tax base. And houses are a great way to do it because they bring in new businesses and new families,” said Gianna Schieffer, director of Grow Spink. “We want to see private development first, but we’re also here to fill in the gaps and keep development going in our area.”

Read how Redfield has become a regional leader in housing innovation.

Mayor Mary Williams said her message to other communities that want to grow is to keep an open mind, always look for the potential benefits of growth and work hard together as a team.

"This is not about any one person. It’s about a progressive-minded community as a whole," said Williams. "Our Wall Economic Development Board is very strong. And on the city council we have 114 years of experience. So while we have some gray hair on our council, we also have some young people getting involved in leadership positions, and that's putting us in a good position for the future."

But even small communities must diversity in order to strengthen the overall economy, Williams said.

That lesson was driven home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have a picture of Main Street in Wall in 2020 with one vehicle on it, showing us we cannot put all our eggs in one basket,” she said. “You either keep pedaling your bike or you’re going to tip over. You can’t stay stagnant if you want your community to grow.”

Read how Wall is building a model to encourage housing growth.