Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP)

The Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP) was one of our stops in Eagle Butte. CRPY was built to provide a safe place for children and teens in Eagle Butte. The center provides activities and meals, and in some cases it is the only meal of the day the attendees receive. The purpose built facility was amazing, there were two libraries, a computer lab, a dance studio, an Internet cafe, a gymnasium, a commercial kitchen, an art room, craft rooms, dinning areas, and housing for volunteers. One building served the children of the community and the larger building with the gymnasium served the youth. There was also a beautiful large garden just outside the buildings, that was well tended.

CRYP serves an important role in the community of Cheyenne River. They host mid-night basketball, give the children a safe place to come do work, help with SAT preparation, provide art opportunities, provide meals to the attendees. They also have a distribution center on site, where families (who are registered) can come and receive household items once a month.

Unlike Re-member, they do not assist in housing work or go out into the community. The children and youth come to CRYP. CRYP is starting to become more involved in the local community, but it has seemed like a slow process. They just recently started a homework night on Tuesday during the school year. CRYP also relies on the volunteer groups to come in with their own programming. This means that programming changes from week to week for the children and youth. While variety is good, sometimes consistency is more important, especially with children.

Images of CRYP

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The Internet cafe area.

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The library.

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The gymnasium.

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The garden.

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