The Agriculture Department announced Monday that that it and other groups have provided $1.97 million to the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation for a community center serving the Ogalala Lakota community on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Leslie Wheelock, director of USDA’s Office of Tribal Relations, joined other federal, state, and tribal leaders at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Regenerative Community which plans to build additional housing, a small farm, an aquaponics greenhouse, a grocery store, powwow grounds and a youth center on the reservation.

USDA financing for this project comes from USDA Rural Development and includes:

Rural Housing Site loan for $489,000 to assist with the development of the streets and utilities for 23 lots;

• A Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance grant for $300,000 to establish and develop a self-help program that will start with the construction of 12 new homes;
• Water and Waste Disposal loan funds of $30,000 and Water and Waste Disposal Native American Set-Aside grant of $672,000 for drinking water and sanitary sewer systems; and
• Water and Waste Disposal loan of $271,000 and a grant of $209,000 for the storm drainage project.
• In addition to USDA Rural Development, other investment partners include the Sustainable Home Ownership Project, USDA Rural Development, Enterprise Community Partners, the Northwest Area Foundation, and the Bush Foundation.