"I am so moved and almost in tears knowing that someone has such a heart for our people!  Ashley Down Mission is exactly what the youth on the Pine Ridge Reservation so desperately need.  As an enrolled member living on the reservation, I have seen so much wrong done to our youth, as well as all the baggage they carry at such a young age.  I too experienced many of the same things but by the grace of God I found healing in Jesus Christ and I want my people to experience the same healing starting with our youth.  Our youth here on the reservation experience sexual abuse, verbal and physical abuse, spiritual abuse, depression, suicide and poverty.  They are burdened with things that many adults do not even face.  Some of our youth are also raising their siblings because mom and dad aren't around because they choose alcohol, drugs or relationships instead of their children.  Our youth here desperately need a safe resource like Ashley Down Mission.  They need to know that there is more to life and things are not always dark.  The reservation is not just one of the poorest places in the United States, it is also a place with a lot of historical trauma because of what was done to our people in the past.  Our people have never fully healed but I feel that Ashley Down Mission is a perfect start.  It can provide the people with hope, love, healing and independence!"