Peter Harriman • pharrimaargusleader.com • April 25, 2009 Gov.
Mike Rounds on Friday celebrated the charitable work with the poor and homeless of the Good Shepherd Ministry Center. Afterward, Rounds put the value of such service in context. South Dakota is dealing with a 16 percent rise in homelessness in the past year, to about 1,100 people, he said. “There are 5,000 more people unemployed than a year ago,” he said. “I think it is important to show support for charitable work, particularly for individuals who have no place else to go.” For its part, the state is trying to carve into the jobless figure with Operation Jump Start, a series of programs to provide retraining for workers who have lost jobs and on-the-job training for workers whom contractors and others are willing to hire. “Give us a season, and we’ll train them,” Rounds said. The goal is to provide workers for sectors of the economy likely to recover most quickly from the economic recession. But the coordination between government and entities such as the Good Shepherd Ministry Center is vital to establish a framework of social services for people “who may have never needed help before,” according to the governor.
Awards presented included the Triumphant Lamb to Margaret Thorton and the Good Shepherd to Helen McGuire, who has been a volunteer with the center’s ecumenical ministry since it began in 1997.