Whew.... That was crazy busy summer!

It's been a while! April 29 was the last time we wrote in here, so first off, we apologize for that! Second, honestly, we see that as a positive because we have been MOVIN' and GROOVIN'! So, let's catch up!

Probably the most exciting completion, personally, is our GOED Childcare Planning and Implementation grant is officially done! Because of this grant, we were able to financially assist and support the start up of the Coyote Club (afterschool program), which will hopefully be up and running in October. I believe we're waiting on a site visit from Department of Social Services and things should move pretty quick! Also, with this Childcare grant we will have a provider in town that has taken the necessary steps to become state licensed. Little Explorer's Daycare will be finishing up some last steps and also preparing for a site visit from DSS. Hopefully that will be wrapped up and completed by the first of the year! We are so grateful for being recipients of the GOED Childcare funding. Special shout out to the Governor's Office of Economic Development for supporting our goals.

Other areas we have really enjoyed the past 4 months: We attended conferences, trainings, being present for Crossroads Youth Leadership, hosting legislature coffee chats and round tables, and last, we worked with a few local businesses to highlight the Murdo area in the 605 Magazine. That issue will be distributed in October, so keep an eye out for it!

So now that you have caught up with what we've been doing, what's to come?

So glad you asked! We are in the process of purchasing our second lot for our Governor's home. That would mean TWO Governor's homes on order, TWO lots purchased, and TWO new homes in our community. We're pretty excited and we'll be sure to share those details with you as soon as they're completed! In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more about Governor's homes and submit an application in to becoming a potential owner of one of those homes, contact Ashley Geigle at 605-516-9080 or stop in her office at 404 Main St in Murdo.

We also are wrapping up our community survey. If you haven't taken yet, please take the 5-10 minute to do so. We promise they are simple questions that will really impact the direction we begin to move forward in! www.surveymonkey.com/r/murd-community-survey-2024 The survey will conclude on September 20.

Other than that we're working on putting together our Rooster Rush campaign (partnering with SD Tourism), Holiday After Hours event, Annual Meeting details, Building Organizations for Local Development training, and a campaign to help us build up our capacity in the community.

We look forward to sharing more with you in the future as we progress! As always, stop in and chat with Ashley any time!