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Re-Member is an independent non-profit organization on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwest South Dakota. Re-Member brings in over 1000 volunteers from locations throughout the world, beginning in early March and continuing through late October, for week-long service-learning trips with an emphasis on cultural exchange.
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History
Re-Member began as a partnership in the fall of 1997 when Keith Titus, then a pastor in West Olive, MI and Mike Alles, of Grand Haven, MI, teamed up to start an outreach organization. In May 1998, Keith and Mike made their first trip to Pine Ridge, accompanied by Rev. Virginia Titus, Keith's wife and co-pastor. Following a bad Michigan storm, they decided to deliver fire wood to Pine Ridge. As a result of that trip, it was decided that they would focus their efforts on the Oglala Lakota people of Pine Ridge and in June 1998, Re-Member began as a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation. From that small beginning, Re-Member now brings more than 1000 volunteers to Pine Ridge each year, not only building bunk beds, but doing home repair, helping the elders and disabled, and affording volunteers an immersion experience in Lakota culture. Re-Member is located on a 2.5 acre site with five buildings including a fully-equipped workshop, kitchen facilities and the ability to house more than 100 volunteers and staff at a time. Now embarking on an ambitious and exciting plan to renovate older homes and build new ones, Re-Member looks to the future with excitement and promise, working with the Lakota people to improve lives on Pine Ridge; better homes, better jobs, better health, and a better life.
Re-Member's Vision
Re-Member is an organization that exists to recall our country's treatment of the Native people of the Americas and to repair the broken pieces of that relationship.
Re-Member's Mission
Guided by the aspirations of the Oglala Lakota communities we serve, Re-Member seeks to improve the quality of life on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota through relationships, shared resources, and volunteer services. Through work projects and cultural immersion, we continue to develop a growing circle of advocates standing in solidarity with the Lakota people on Pine Ridge.
External Links
Re-Member (Official Site)
Re-Member on Facebook
A Week at Re-Member (St. Anselm College)