(upbeat ambient music) - [Narrator] This is a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

- Hello and welcome to South Dakota Focus.

I'm Jackie Hendry.

The four presidential faces carved into Mount Rushmore are changing.

slowly less than an inch every 10,000 years.

But as we'll learn a little later, even that is enough to warrant some extra attention, but most other changes in South Dakota happen at a much faster pace, change is a theme this month.

It can mean a new home with new challenges as we'll learn from immigrants who sought safety and opportunity here in South Dakota.

It can mean innovation and adapting to challenges as we'll learn from the early days of national public radio, and it can mean reform or at the very least, a new district boundary.

Each year voter send lawmakers to peer for the state legislative session.

Those lawmakers represent 35 districts.

And after the census, every 10 years, lawmakers redraw those districts themselves.

The barriers of a district determine exactly which voters a given lawmaker represents.

The redistricting process is underway now, but as legislators draw the new maps, there's a push to make the process less political.

SDPB's Lee Strubinger has more.

(upbeat ambient music) - [Lee] There's an intersection in Rapid City that appears innocuous, but it's where three legislative districts converge, splitting up a neighborhood.

(upbeat ambient music) Kellen Returns From Scout stands at the corner of East Boulevard and North Street.

The dividing point is between a residential neighborhood and a busy commercial corridor.

There's an open field and rail line nearby.

- Here is kind of an interesting display of how the legislature has strategically in my opinion diluted the voting power of people here in North Rapid, not just in this last period in 2010, but I think probably for the better part of 30 years, at least in my recollection of the legislature.

(upbeat ambient music) - Returns from Scout grew up and attended school in North Rapid City, he now works for the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Health Board and was a South Dakota delegate for the Democratic National Convention.

The area of town has a high concentration of native Americans, however, this house shares a legislative district with the Pactola reservoir, 20 miles away.

- We've had such a divided legislatively district-wise, neighborhood and part of town where it has become nearly impossible to find a representative who actually resides here.

- [Lee] Returns from Scout says the way legislative districts currently stand, (upbeat ambient music) residents from the city's north side have not had a chance at mounting a successful candidate for office, regardless of race.

He says redistricting should correct what he calls a wrong against the neighborhood and community.

- In order for our government to work, it has to be reflective of the people that are governed.

- [Lee] He's drawn a legislative district that would keep (upbeat ambient music) North Rapid City together, it would protect many native Americans from being split into separate districts, but returns from Scout estimates registered Republicans would retain a majority with 53% of registered voters.

- It still makes it a little competitive.

- [Lee] Every decade following the census, state lawmakers convene to redraw political boundaries.

That process is dominated by Republicans.

Of the 15 members, just two are Democrats.

That imbalance is why some are hoping to change how district boundaries are drawn.

(intense ambient music) Across the state, Erin Royer is gathering signatures for a ballot question that seeks to establish an independent redistricting commission.

The Democrat from Sioux Falls ran for the House of Representatives in 2020.

- So I got to talk to a ton of people in District 12 face-to-face and I really like seeing them around town now and they recognizing, and they say, hey, you came to my door to talk to me about running for office.

- Royer lost to Republican incumbent, Arch Beal by 66 votes.

District 12 is a south eastern district of the state's largest city, it stretches from farm ground, just south and east of the intersection between I29 and 229 to old central Sioux Falls.

Next to District 12 is District 13, which also stretches vertically from near downtown to below 229.

Royer calls the district setups odd and says if it were up to her, she would draw them differently.

- Because the top half of District 12 and the top half of District 13 seem to have much more in common to me than the top half of District 12 and the bottom half of District 12.

- [Lee] Royer says it would make more sense for the districts to run horizontally, so that concerns from urban and rural constituencies are better represented.

That's why she's gathering signatures for an independent redistricting commission.

- The way legislative districts are drawn can decide an election even before anybody starts voting.

- [Lee] If it makes the ballot, it won't be the first time South Dakota voters have voted on the idea recently.

57% of voters rejected an independent redistricting committee on the ballot in 2016.

- No lawsuit was filed against the last redistricting plan in South Dakota, which indicates to me that people were reasonably satisfied with it, at least the majority of the people.

- [Lee] That's Republican State Senator Jim Bolin, who sat on the Redistricting Committee 10 years ago.

He's also on the current Redistricting Committee.

Bolin opposed an independent redistricting committee effort in 2016 and he opposes the current push.

- In 2016, it was voted on by the public, 44% of the people voted for it and 56% voted against it, that was only six years ago.

- [Lee] Bolin says only three counties are split up by the current district maps, which he says was a reduction from the prior map.

Emily Wanless is a political science professor at Augustana University in Sioux Falls.

She says the push for an independent redistricting commission is warranted.

- Well, this isn't something that is novel or new to South Dakota, it's a type of redistricting process that is utilized across the country.

And it's important because essentially by letting the state legislatures draw the districts, they are ensuring their own electoral safety.

And so this isn't a Republican issue, it isn't a Democrat issue, it's an incumbent issue where those in power are essentially given the power to draw their districts to ensure their electoral safety.

- [Lee] Wanless says an independent commission creates districts with more competition.

She says more competition leads to more participation and therefore more trust in government.

I'm SDPB's Lee Strubinger.

(upbeat ambient music) - State lawmakers have until November 8th to finalize the new district boundaries, and there's plenty of work ahead.

SDPB's Lee Strubinger joins us now from the SDPB Black Hills Studio in Rapid City.

Lee, thanks for being here.

- Good to be here Jackie.

- Lawmakers covered more than 1100 miles of ground to receive public comment on this process, what happens now?

Yeah, so because of that public comment period, some are going back to the drawing board and considering what kind of came up during those hearings.

One Republican representative, Mike Derby of Rapid City wants to make a map based on several specific takeaways he heard during public comment and make a map based on that.

And some of those ideas that he's considering are not splitting Watertown, there's a proposal out there that does split Watertown essentially in half.

There are others that split Clay and Turner Counties, he wants to see about keeping those the same, that came up as well.

There's other ideas that came up to him or not having some City of Aberdeen precincts and rural Brown County.

And he also wants to take a look at what district can sort of be, that North Rapid can kind of end up in.

So, it's kind of like some of the ideas that he's bringing to a map that he'll bring potentially next week.

Keep in mind, there are about seven different map proposals out there right now, and all of them are just slightly different.

You know, other lawmakers say the prevailing thought among the public is, please just don't change my district, but the reality is the population has shifted over the last 10 years and lawmakers have to draw maps that reflect those changes.

- What I understand, we are just a few weeks away from lawmakers finalizing those maps.

The House and the Senate have different visions for what they should be, what happens if they don't agree?

- Yeah, we've already kind of seen the disagreements between House and Senate leadership.

Both are accusing the other of kind of publishing legislative maps that they call 'gerrymandered'.

You know, the way the redistricting committee is set up right now is there are two committees that are meeting as one.

So you have a House committee and a Senate committee voting separately, but they're meeting together for the most part.

And that means when the Senate gavels in, the Senate could be voting on their map, and when the house gavels in, they'll vote on their map and each chamber could end up approving their own maps and not approve the other.

And so what that will essentially end up in would be what's called a 'conference committee' where they would potentially hash out those differences.

But if the House and Senate can't agree on maps, the state Supreme Court will have to draw those maps within 90 days, it'll get sent to the state's top court.

- Well, more coverage to come, SDPB politics and public policy reporter, Lee Strubinger updating us on the redistricting process underway.

Lee, thanks again for being here.

- Good to be here Jackie, thanks.

- Most South Dakotans recognize agriculture and tourism as the state's largest industries, but a US Bureau of Economic Analysis report shows finance and insurance account for the largest portion of the state's GDP.

That industry made headlines earlier this month.

An article from the Washington Post found 10s of millions of dollars in international money is housed by trust companies in Sioux Falls.

Some of that money is tied to companies accused of human rights abuses, but much of that money is held by wealthy people looking to avoid taxes.

British journalist Oliver Bullough wrote a book on these practices years before the Post's article.

He explains why South Dakota and other trust havens should think critically about the impact of this industry.

(upbeat ambient music) - I became very interested in the way that particular states in the United States, particularly South Dakota, but also a number of its competing states like Nevada and Wyoming, Alaska, several others had really carved out this niche for themselves as trust jurisdictions (intense ambient music) and give it a degree of protection that you can't even find in offshore jurisdictions.

And the amount of money in South Dakota was increasing very quickly.

And any money that South Dakota makes from these trusts that come here is not additional money, it's not been conjured into existence by the magic of capitalism, this is money that would be being paid in taxes somewhere else.

So essentially it has a sort of robbing Peter to pay Paul situation here, and in this context, you guys are Paul.

If you look at the regime of Vladimir Putin in Russia or the regime in Venezuela, these are not places where politicians take a $100 here or a $100 there, they take a $100 billion here, or a $100 billion there.

That is not money you can fit into a brown envelope.

That money is electronic money that is being moved through the international financial system.

And what you have therefore are crooked people who are taking bribes, and then you have a crooked system that moves their bribes, that launders their bribes, and allows them to spend their bribes.

Now, the argument that I make again and again, is that there is no point expecting meaningful reform from Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, he is not going to stop being corrupt just because we ask him to, he likes being corrupt, he's happy with the system, how it is.

The pressure point that we do have is that we can influence the system that moves the money, that accepts the money and that allows the money to be spent.

That is the part that exists in our countries.

What jurisdictions like ours do is they make money from this money.

We are essentially providing what I call corruption services by allowing people who are corrupt to enjoy the fruits of their corruption.

And that is a very profitable business, but really once you understand what that means in terms of the cost to ordinary people in places like Russia or Venezuela, it is an unconscionable way of making a living.

You know, money laundering is not a victimless crime.

This is a crime with desperately vulnerable victims who are losing money that they desperately need.

So countries like mine or yours can get a little bit richer than they already are.

And I don't think we should be doing that.

You know, our systems have ideals embedded within them, we're are not dictatorships, we are democracies, and we believe in everyone is equal before the law, we think that there is more to a person than just a target for robbery.

And if we profess those ideals, we should start living by them.

And that means that we need to start scrutinizing the money that we accept and turning money away that has been stolen from people that need it.

And there are not many major financial centers in the world.

If the United Kingdom and the United States stopped moving this money, the space for it to move would be dramatically curtailed.

We have the ability to impose our ideals on the world if we choose to, but we have to recognize that there will be a cost to that because it's not just, you know, let's be honest about this, the vast majority of clients of trust companies in Sioux Falls are not kleptocrats or crooked officials, the vast majority of them are extremely wealthy Americans or Europeans or people from China or other countries with a higher concentration of billionaires, extremely wealthy people who earned their money entirely legally, who just don't wanna pay taxes.

And in order to confront the kleptocrats, we also need to recognize that we need to confront the tax dodgers, because tax dodgers are the people who create the space for corruption to exist, because the tools exploited by the kleptocrats are the same tools exploited by tax dodgers, they are asking for the same thing.

The evil money always follows the naughty money.

(upbeat ambient music) - Since the Washington Post report, Congress introduced a bipartisan bill to close loopholes in the current trust laws.

The Enablers Act requires trust companies to investigate the source of clients' wealth.

You can find much more of SDPB's coverage on the trust industry at sdpb.org/news.

Last month, the four faces of Mount Rushmore had some company, a specialized rope team rappelled down the sculpture to track wear and tear on the state's most famous attraction.

SDPB's Arielle Zionts explains.

(upbeat ambient music) - [Arielle] Recent visitors to Mount Rushmore have been surprised to see more than four faces on the granite monument.

The workers rappelling down the sculpture are part of Mount Rushmore's Rope Access Team.

Their job is to seal cracks and calibrate sensors that monitor rock movement.

Blaine Kortemeyer is acting chief of interpretation at Mount Rushmore and a member of the rope team.

He says, moving around on the famous faces is hard to describe.

- One of my favorite places is across Jefferson.

So Jefferson, his gaze is actually four degrees higher than the other three because of cracks during the carving era, that boardroom and the workers had to adjust to.

So putting the ropes right through Jefferson's part, and then down across the eyes and hopping off the forehead across into front of the eyes is pretty cool.

I've only backed out on the nose once.

It's kind of scary.

- [Arielle] The team is calibrating sensors that monitor areas called rock blocks.

Those are created when multiple cracks combine, splitting a section of the rock face.

- The first study on the granite that is Mount Rushmore was done by Gutzon Borglum, the School of Mines and Technology right here in Rapid City.

They estimated that the granite weathers at the rate of one inch every 10,000 years.

So granite's pretty durable, right?

But it's not about the granite, it's about the cracks in the granite.

- [Arielle] Rangers have been monitoring four of the rock blocks since 1998.

They measure how much the rock blocks shrink and expand with daily and seasonal temperature changes.

Two rock blocks could fall out of the sculpture if they begin to move at different rates.

- Well, these rock blocks are huge.

One is the upper third of Lincoln's face.

So they're monstrous, who knows how many tons they weigh.

- [Arielle] The block that changes the most moves 44 1000s of an inch, or the width of a nickel.

Water is the sculptures biggest enemy.

When water in the cracks turns into ice, it can then push the blocks around.

So workers maintain this sculpture with silicone to seal cracks along the tops of the president's heads and Washington's left shoulder.

Vertical cracks are left open to drain the water on their own.

If regular maintenance isn't enough, Kortemeyer says, workers could secure unstable rock blocks to the backside of the monument.

The Rope Team works in Mount Rushmore by rappelling down on two ropes attached to metal anchors.

Kortemeyer says this two rope propelling system is statistically safer than driving your car to work.

It's also safer and less cumbersome than the way workers navigated as they carved Mount Rushmore.

Back then, workers strapped into a device called a Bosun's chair suspended from the rock face.

Visitors will have to wait another year to watch the Rope Team conduct its annual calibration.

The crew only returns if the sensors or cracks are in need of repair.

I'm SDPB's Arielle Zionts at Mount Rushmore.

(upbeat ambient music) Mount Rushmore is one of the most recognizable symbols of the United States of America, and to many who hope to make a life here, the country itself is a symbol of opportunity and freedom.

Citizenship is easy to take for granted when you've had it since the moment you were born, but for others, it's a prize at the end of a long and costly process.

Earlier this summer, dozens of people took the Oath of Allegiance in Sioux Falls.

The ceremony was small because of the pandemic, but that didn't hamper the sense of pride and hope for the new citizens of the United States.

(upbeat ambient music) Before the citizenship ceremony, 55 people represented 24 different countries.

They all took the Oath of Allegiance in a conference room overlooking the big Sioux River in downtown Sioux Falls.

COVID restrictions meant family members had to watch from outside.

They peered in through a window, even as temperatures reached 100 degrees.

Jeffrey Beil is a Supervisory Immigration Services Officer.

He says they had to split up families during the ceremony to keep people safe.

- Part of our safety protocols, we try to maintain social distancing and just following CDC guidelines.

So in order to maintain that social distancing, that limits the capacity of any space that we occupy, whether it's for naturalization ceremony or at our field officer.

- [Jackie] Outdoor naturalization ceremonies can handle a bigger audience like the event at Mount Rushmore earlier this summer, there another 55 people became newly minted United States citizens.

Aiveen Martin had hoped to be in that crowd at Mount Rushmore, but a federal agency decides which event you attend.

She now lives in Rapid City after immigrating from the United Kingdom.

Instead, she drove across the state to Sioux Falls for her ceremony, family members couldn't attend and her husband waited in the car.

Despite the limited audience, Martin says she felt a deep sense of pride as she stood and raised her right hand.

- When I was making the oath of allegiance, you're thinking about your original country and about your new country and about how it would be really proud to be asked to do any of these things such as represent your country.

I think that would be really exciting.

They probably wouldn't ask a 61 year old to do very much, but I'm sure I'd make quite a good American spy.

(chuckles) - [Jackie] The oath includes renouncing foreign allegiances defending the US Constitution and taking up arms on behalf of the United States when required, but Martin is most excited about another civic duty.

- Being able to vote as probably the most important thing, being able to kind of take a full part rather than just discussing.

- [Jackie] She also hopes to expand her consulting business, to work with the military, which her citizenship now makes possible.

And in keeping with South Dakota's agricultural leaning, there's another element Martins entrepreneurial spirit.

- I've started making, very successfully started making my own hot sauce, which is called "Pipin' Hot" Pipin' being the Scottish pipers, that has a little bagpiper on the logo.

I've had a whole garden full of chili plants on the go at the moment, and hopefully in the harvest this year then, I'll be able to make quite a big sampling batch for, you never know what may happen.

So, but they see America is the land of opportunity, so here we go.

- [Jackie] After the ceremony in Sioux Falls was over, Aiveen Martin was one of 55 people all representing the same country.

(upbeat ambient music) It's been a few months since Aiveen Martin took the Oath of Allegiance, she joins us now from the SDPB Black Hills Studio in Rapid City to share more about her journey to citizenship.

Aiveen welcome, and it's good to see you again.

- Thank you for having me.

- So Aiveen, tell us a bit more about the process of becoming a citizen.

How long did that take for you?

- So the process of becoming a citizen takes quite a long time.

I think for, in my case, it took probably just around about five years.

It's quite a complicated process, there's quite a lot of hurdles that you have to go through, probably around about five quite formal application processes.

And at each stage you are required to provide lots of evidence and so on, that demonstrates that you're genuine, that you're fit to be a citizen, that people here know you and can vouch that you're of good character and so on and things like that.

It's also, you need to be a bit of a lawyer really.

- Mm-hmm.

- Because the forums are really, really complicated.

So it's not part of the faint hearted to go undertake the process, it's also a very expensive process.

So you would not want to think about going through that process lightly.

- Hmm.

- So.

- Yeah.

How has becoming a citizen, have you seen a difference already in your consultancy business or anything like that?

- So my consultancy business, hopefully now we can take on a new dimension, I've had that consultancy business for about 12 years, and it's really in the states, still in its sort of infancy.

But now that I'm a citizen, it should allow me to access more organizations and hopefully some support and advice on really ramping up in the States.

So for example, I'm very passionate about wellbeing and that's what the business is all about and it's about growing people and growing organizations and to being the best and most resilient that they can be.

And one of the things that I bring with me from Scotland, although it's developed as a global toolkit, this is called "Kitbag" and it has a number of resources within it that allows us to connect with our inner resilience if you like, and that can be something that we are not even aware that we have, that you really come into this world with all the things that you need to be able to cope with whatever this complex world throws at you.

So it just facilitates that connection with those resilience.

And we can start using this in schools and in Scotland for example, they have a lot of kitbag skills.

Our children are helping to develop connection to themselves and emotional development and connection to other children and developing kindness and compassion, that's very, very powerful.

And I've used it here already with, for example, the School of Mines, helping adults there to experience those kind of depth of connection with each other that are facilitates.

So it's really, really powerful.

So I'm hoping that I can maybe start manufacturing these under license obviously, here in Rapid City and also developing a strategy to really bring it to organizations, and schools, hospitals, community organizations, and private organizations as well, any organization that kind of cares for its people can use this toolkit.

And it's not difficult.

- Well.

to get to know.

- Yeah.

I know one more, a piece of entrepreneurialship that you shared with us is you're Pipin' Hot Sauce.

How's the pepper harvest this year?

(chuckles) - The pepper harvest this year has been phenomenal.

The only downside of it has been the deer in the local area (chuckles) are quite partial to Carolina Reaper chilies, they are the hottest chili in the world.

And so I've been saying to people, you know, if you see any deer walking around with flames coming out of them and that's because they've been eating my chilies, but apart from that, I have a really good harvest of about 16 different kinds of chilies.

And so today I actually, I'm gonna be starting my next batch of hot sauce.

And this is one of the bottles what it looks like.

It's not for the faint-hearted, it's very, very hot.

(laughing) I'll have to grab a bottle the next time I'm out west.

(laughing) - Absolutely.

- Aiveen Martin lives in Rapid City.

She celebrated becoming a us citizen earlier this year.

Aiveen, thanks again for being here, I appreciate it so much.

- Thank you.

(chuckles) - Many come to the United States, not just for opportunity, but for safety.

Haitians and Afghans are the most recent groups seeking refuge in the United States.

It's unclear when, or if South Dakota will see any refugees from these conflicts.

Lutheran Social Services, the only refugee resettlement organization in the state is not offering any specifics as the situation unfolds.

Rebecca Kiesow-Knudson is the group's incoming president.

We talked recently in SDPB Sioux Falls Studio about the refugee resettlement process and her goals for the future of Lutheran Social Services.

(upbeat ambient music) - So our start in refugee resettlement actually started in 1948 after World War Two, when there were a number of displaced Europeans who were seeking refuge.

So our first group of arrivals were actually Lutherans from Lithuania and refugee resettlement at that time looked very different than it looks right now, it's gone through a lot of changes over the years, but on the whole, our mission has been to be welcoming to the stranger as we're inspired by Christ and his words about welcoming the stranger.

So that's how we got our start.

We've continued to primarily focus on the refugee population in South Dakota.

The composition of that population changes and shifts over time as you know refugee populations around the world shift, but we've always been.

- Hmm.

- Very good at being responsive and helping to provide support for that community.

- [Jackie] Rebecca Kiesow-Knudson has spent 20 years with Lutheran Social Services in a variety of leadership roles.

In December, she begins her new role as president and CEO.

Walk me through some of the journeys that have been included in your career and what keeps you involved in this work?

- Well, I always like to think about LSS as being a great problem solver.

We're a unique organization in South Dakota because we have so many different service lines that impact people in different ways.

And those services all combined in really unique ways that can help us see problems that our community has in a different way and bring solutions to the table that are different than other organizations might have because they're only doing one or two different things.

So what I've always appreciated about LSS is that anytime I start to get a little bit bored in my role, there's a new program or a new problem to try to tackle.

And I've been given opportunities to step into those leadership roles to try to address those community concerns.

- [Jackie] The center for New Americans is part of Lutheran Social Services work to help immigrants and refugees adjust to life in South Dakota.

It offers English and culture classes among other services.

- And as you can imagine, if you were dropped into another country with the language you maybe didn't speak, you probably need a lot of assistance to understand the culture, to understand how law enforcement interacts with our communities, how the school systems work and how your kids would navigate through those things.

So our team is really most intense during that initial year, but we can continue to provide support for individuals for up to five years post arrival.

- [Jackie] Refugee resettlement in South Dakota, and the nation has declined over the past five years, this is largely due to the Trump administration's historically low cap on refugee admissions and the Biden administration's delayed action once in office.

In the last fiscal year, Lutheran Social Services resettled 50 refugees in the state from eight countries, all of them settled in Sioux Falls.

The unfolding situation in Afghanistan promises to stretch the nations refugee resettlement infrastructure, South Dakota hasn't seen refugees from Afghanistan since 2017.

- The current refugee situation facing Afghanistan.

I know you're not able to talk in depth about that specifically right now, because there's a lot of moving parts right now, but just in general, help people understand what it means to be a refugee and how refugees land in South Dakota.

- A refugee is an international classification.

And basically refugees are individuals who have fled their home countries for fear of their lives because of who they are, what they do, their identification with a certain ethnic group, for example, or political affiliation that puts them at risk and their families at risk.

Very often, people have less than 24 hours notice to know that they need to leave their home and seek safety in another country.

So typically refugees will then move to a third country, which would be a country that has a refugee camp and the United nations oversees those refugee camps.

Most of the time, the world's refugees are looking to go home once the conflict that created their need to flee subsides.

So people will end up in refugee camps for years, anywhere between 14 and 17 years on average and less than 1% of the world's refugee population ever ends up being resettled into another country like the United States.

- Wow.

- Most people end up going home or staying in the country that they flee to.

- [Jackie] I want to let that sink In, on average, people spend up to 17 years in a refugee camp and less than 1% of the world's refugees resettle somewhere else.

But if a person can't return home, Kiesow-Knudsen says they can submit an application for refugee status with the United Nations.

That process can take another two years with background checks and other screenings.

Once that application is approved, the persons file goes to the US State Department.

Then nine organizations sift through those cases.

- One of those organizations is Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services of which we're an affiliate, but basically those nine agencies look at the individual's case, they determine are there family connections in the US that would make a certain community a better place for them to resettle or distant relatives, friends, those kinds of connections can help people.

They also look to see what kind of language abilities and ethnic backgrounds that individual is from and whether or not the community that would be receiving that individual has an established community there to help with that integration.

All of these things are ingredients that help people be successful, so they're always trying to look to make sure that that happens.

From there, if a case is determined that South Dakota is a good fit, then we would receive an assurance for that case and we would get information, and that would start the process for us in terms of what data they traveling and trying to get the apartments set up and being there at the airport to welcome them into the country.

- [Jackie] Grants and donations help Lutheran Social Services provide initial homes and other items for refugees who come to South Dakota.

Federal funding covers basic financial needs for eight months.

Refugee resettlement is one aspect of Lutheran Social Services, the organization also works in mental health, financial counseling, and child services.

After celebrating its centennial anniversary, a new leader means looking to the next challenges.

What are some of your goals for the future of LSS as you move into this new role?

- Well, we're an organization with a vibrant history and I'm really looking forward to being able to help craft the vision for our next 100 years of service in South Dakota, we hope to stay around and be present again for the next 100 years.

There are obviously some critical strategy areas we need to work on.

I think probably most organizations in South Dakota are struggling with workforce.

That's definitely a challenge for us right now.

So we'll be working to create some strategy around how we can attract and retain the qualified professional workforce that we need in order to complete our services, we're implementing some new programming around really supporting families to try to help avoid involvement in the child protective system.

So early intervention and prevention programming that can help families be successful in the longterm, so that's an exciting new program that we'll be rolling out in the next year.

- When you look at all these challenges, these services and the responsibility of this new role, what gets you excited to wake up in the morning in December when this is official and take those next steps?

- Mm-hmm.

Well, it's the work, it's the wonderful services that we deliver, it's the staff who are passionate about the work that we do and come to work to try to help people every day.

And so having good solid leadership to help steer the ship and help lead that group of people to make a difference in our community.

It's really exciting.

It's a little overwhelming (chuckles) I'll be honest because there are a lot of challenges that we face in the work that we do, but I'm excited to be able to help the path of our organization forward.

(upbeat ambient music) - South Dakota's population is changing and growing.

The 2020 census shows the state's overall population grew by more than 70,000 people in the last decade.

That's important because the state needs workers.

In fact, there are more open jobs in South Dakota than people available to fill them.

But despite those numbers, people seeking work still face obstacles, physical challenges and language barriers can make it hard for prospective employees to find a good fit.

But in Sioux Falls, the Multicultural Center is working to solve that problem through its workforce development and interpretation services.

(upbeat ambient music) The Multicultural Center in Sioux Falls has seen several changes in recent years, but as it adapts to new leadership and some program changes, its mission remains the same, to connect all Sioux Falls residents with resources to help them succeed.

Kelly Grote is the Director of the Workforce Development Program.

She's helping about 50 current clients find jobs.

- We have people of all different cultures and walks of life who are coming into the area, whether it's from a different country or even just a different state.

And sometimes they don't know exactly where to start looking for work or what types of places we even have that are offering jobs at all.

And so that's my job then is to help them come up with those goals that they have and then apply to jobs.

- One of Kelly's clients is George Van Voren.

He's done steelwork and welding in the past, but a leg injury means he's looking for something new.

- And they're helping me look for other jobs that I can do with my disability.

A lot of my friends, well, I shouldn't call them friends, but a lot of people I know, they're out on the street and they're trying to get off the street and they're working very hard at doing that, but it's very difficult to, yeah, there are a lot of jobs in South Dakota and yeah, there were a lot of opportunities for people without disabilities, you know, if you're limited, you can't really find those jobs to too easily.

Yeah.

- That's where Kelly Grote comes in.

We've all been hearing about these staffing shortages.

How has that been impacting the work that you do?

- Well, it has helped my job a little bit.

(chuckles) I mean, it's been a little easier for me to help people apply to places that are actually looking for workers.

I've started making sure that I'm in contact with places and there have actually been places that have contacted me to see if I have people who are interested.

- Grote has several clients like Van Voren, who are from South Dakota and need extra help finding the right job.

But many of her clients are new Americans.

When you're working with someone who is brand new to the United States, how do you manage the additional challenges that come with that?

- It kind of depends on the person.

We do have people who don't speak English yet, or who are just in the beginning process of learning English.

So we usually will provide an interpreter provided that we have that language available.

- The Multicultural Center employs around 20 interpreters who speak 25 languages.

Aker Bil speaks Arabic and the Dinka dialect spoken in South Sudan.

She went to college in Egypt, but came to the United States more than 20 years ago when war made it too dangerous to go home.

- And then ended up in so far, my youngest sister was here with her husband and I came through immigration system through Lutheran Social Service from Egypt to here with my three boys.

And that time, if you have a relative or family member in US, your process go smoothly.

That's why I ended up in Sioux Falls.

- She took English classes through Lutheran Social Services and found a new community.

- When I came Multicultural Center was like a center for refugees or refugees to come to meet.

And that time I'm still struggling with my language until this program started.

So they have interpreting program.

So maybe it's a good chance for me to help my community somehow.

I kind of feel good when I see them meet their needs for medical system and legal system.

And when they come in the end.

So thank you, thank you, I really appreciate what you did to me.

And for me, it made me really feel good, it's not just being paid doing it, but I think I'm giving something to the community, which is some people who, before me gave me when I got here.

- Interpreters can sit in on workforce development meetings with Kelly Grote, that's free along with the rest of the workforce development program.

Interpreters with the Multicultural Center can also help clients with things like job interviews, doctor's visits and translating documents.

Like Aker, many of these interpreters know the challenges of coming to a new country firsthand.

Chris Najarro's mother came to the United States from Guatemala in the late 90s.

She worked picking produce in California for $6 an hour.

- And then they heard about this wonderful place called John Morrell that was paying over twice as much as she was currently making.

- [Jackie] Najarro's mom moved to Sioux falls and took a job at the meat packing plant, that allowed her to continue the immigration process for her children.

They arrived in South Dakota when Najarro was 10 years old.

- Very little over the outside world, so this was a complete 180 and culture shock for my brothers and I.

We had a little bit of trouble.

I don't wanna say like panic attacks, but pretty close once we started getting into school, because it was just such a shift.

I didn't know how to communicate.

And they had one of the students actually that had been there for about six months, he kind of was already kind of getting the hang of it, he was my interpreter.

And the school couldn't afford to have like interpreters or a teacher that was bilingual in the class, so the students help the students.

- Years later, the Hispanic population has grown in Sioux Falls.

But Chris Najarro, who now works as an interpreter, says language services haven't kept up.

How big is the need for Spanish interpreters in Sioux Falls?

- Enormous.

There is so many immigrant families from Latin American countries that live not only in Sioux Falls, but in the surrounding areas.

If you go to a dairy farm anywhere near this area, the only people that are American born, US born are basically the managers.

Every single one of their dairy employees is Hispanic.

So I interpret a lot for those people that work kind of on the outskirts in the dairy farms.

- [Jackie] Najarro says he works with people up to an hour away in Worthington, Minnesota, the site of another meat processing plant with a large immigrant workforce.

There's always someone who needs help.

The first question I wanna ask is, is what is a solution?

But I don't even know what obstacles are to this problem to even start thinking about a solution.

- The obstacles to solving that problem are on the legislative level.

That's really what it comes down to.

This needs to be some action in the legislative level to be taken to allow these families to learn English.

They don't stay in their situation because they want to, they stay in their situation because they have to.

These families many times still have family members back in their home country and need to send money out that way.

You can't take time off to learn.

- When it comes to learning a new language, the US government provides money for refugee language classes through LSS.

But Chris Najarro says other countries like Spain will pay their residents to learn a new language.

Learning a second language is a challenge (tranquil ambient music) for many new residents.

Najarro's mother has learned enough English to get by, but not to advance.

- She hates her job.

Absolutely despises it, but she doesn't have any other choice.

She knows just enough English to deal with her job and just enough English to navigate through all the bills she needs to pay.

She used to be a teacher, a kindergarten teacher in Guatemala before she came here.

- [Jackie] But Najarro says (tranquil ambient music) his mother works 12 hour days, sometimes seven days a week.

That doesn't leave much time or energy to learn something new.

Kelly Grote wants more people to understand those challenges.

- I think it would be nice for more people to understand that a lot of the people that I'm helping for example are not coming, they're not coming to steal people's jobs, they're trying to support their families like everybody else.

They're trying to keep a roof over their head, just like everybody else.

- [Jackie] And like with so many challenges, a little bit of help can make the difference.

- For lawmakers, if they're able to see this, give funding to programs that help immigrant families succeed because their success is South Dakota's success.

(upbeat ambient music) - Another lesser known resource at the Sioux Falls Multicultural Center is the Career Closet.

The small room is lined with clothing racks, there's dress clothes for job interviews, scrubs for clinical work, and on a lucky day, steel-toed boots for manual labor jobs, all available for free.

The closet is maintained by a single passionate volunteer, Alvina Ducheneaux tells us a story.

(upbeat ambient music) - There are gently used clothing and even the jackets or whatever they need, you know, it makes them feel good, especially ladies and sometimes they get emotional because they said, I'm so thankful that the Career Closet has this, it's just my right size.

And they liked the style, can we look in a mirror?

And I said, yeah, sure.

So they look at themselves or whatever, they'll put it up like this, oh, that looks nice on me.

You know.

That'll fit, and then I'll tell them to sit down, and then, you could get, here's a stocking for you, and then always try to give him a mask because that's what we're supposed to do is give them a mask or if they want gloves or there are hand sanitizer there for them.

And they say, sure, what something, they come in here with masks already, so then I give them a little nylon stocking they'll put on their shoes and then they'll put it on, they get so excited, these fit.

And they'll be so happy to be jumping up and down and they'll be saying, these really fit, I look nice, don't I?

And I said, yeah, they look nice on you.

(chuckles) And just to see them smile, we did something for them, the Career Closet done something for them.

You know, it makes them feel good because they come here and they're down, they have no clothing and they need this or that, and like, where are they gonna go?

You know.

Other places they'd gone to, they said that they couldn't do it because, then they would say, how much money do we have to pay for this?

I have no money, I said, this is free.

I said, it's free for you because to get a job to be able to get a job, I said, and this is for you I said, and that's why Career Closet is here with Multiculture Group, I said, I'm glad we can help you, you know.

And they said, good, that's good.

They will be so happy with what they got, you know?

And then they all say, can we come back next month?

And I said, yeah, and then one time a lady came back, she got a job and here she came back and she donated some clothes here.

She said, I'm gonna donate some clothes because Career Closet, Multiculture Group help me.

(upbeat ambient music) - Stories like the ones we've heard tonight matter because they tell us something about the world around us.

In many ways, the stories we tell shape that world, it's a responsibility not to be taken lightly.

And that without a history, we'll end tonight with a look at our own history of storytelling.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting is one of the 88 original partners of the first public radio network, National Public Radio.

As NPR celebrates 50 years, In The Moment host Lori Walsh explores what that partnership means to radio listeners across South Dakota.

(upbeat ambient music) When president Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 into law, he declared the airwaves belong to all the people.

Bill Siemering, NPRs first director of programming was determined to create a new sound for radio, and elevate an often disparaged medium.

The first show offered to charter stations across the nation was All Things Considered.

On May 3rd, 1971, NPR reporters covered unrest in the nation's Capitol.

(background chattering) - 1000s of young people came to Washington willing to risk being arrested in order to end the war.

They went into the streets this morning to stop the government from functioning by clogging many Washington roads during this morning's rush hour.

- Journalist Jim Russell had just returned from reporting on the war in Vietnam.

He was on the ground in Washington for NPR, with his microphone to the moment, the reporting was groundbreaking, but flawed Russell says.

50 years later, it's the vision of public radio that still inspires.

- I was looking at Bill Siemering's mission statement and two sentences popped out this morning, one of them is, its purpose was quote, "To celebrate the human experience as infinitely varied, rather than vacuous and banal."

It will encourage a sense of active constructive participation rather than apathetic helplessness.

So that's a pretty powerful statement and it's a pretty powerful mission.

- That mission includes more than the news.

Public Radio is home to world-class and innovative audio storytelling that gets inside your head and opens your mind.

- So they would, when people talk about driveway moments, those stories that lingered and let you feel them, and get your own head into them, and reflect and realize, what have I just been through?

I've been commuting home, and yet I've been on a magical journey and I've come back enriched.

- [Lori] In a digital world, more than 98% of Americans still have access to public radio and NPR member stations, more than 33 million listeners tune in on air, online and via podcasts each week.

Julie Overgaard is SDPB's Executive Director.

- I believe public radio still adheres to the same principles it did 50 years ago.

We're here to inform our audience to give the public the news, the information and the stories they need to have the best and fullest life that they possibly can.

We're not here to tell everybody what they always wanna hear, we're here at times to challenge you and your thinking and hopefully everyone is open to that.

And maybe from time to time, your opinions shift on a matter, because of a story you heard on public radio.

We're here to tell you the truth, we're here for you to rely and to trust upon us to do our job every day and keeping you informed and celebrating all that is the best in South Dakota.

We did that 50 years ago, and we're gonna do it for the next 50 years.

- [Lori] Today, SDPB is one of more than a 1000 member stations who partner with NPR, bringing news from around the world to South Dakotans via their cars, their combines, their computers.

NPR helps SDPB reporters bring South Dakota news to the world.

50 years later, it's still radio with a purpose, free of commercial influence.

These airwaves still belong to the American people.

(upbeat ambient music) - That's all we have time for tonight, but remember, these airwaves are your airwaves.

If there's a story in your community we're missing, send us an email, [email protected].

You can also find me on Twitter @JackieHendrySD.

I'll see you again on Tuesday, November 23rd as we discuss native American education.

Until then, I'm Jackie Hendry, thank you for watching.