Abbott House – Mitchell

Volunteered with Abbott House for a supply drive this spring and walked away with a completely different understanding of what they do for kids in the Sioux Falls area. The staff took time to explain how the residential… treatment and foster care programs actually work instead of just asking for a donation and moving on. Everything felt organized, from drop-off logistics to how contributions get used. It's clear the people running this organization have been doing this work for years and care about getting it right. Would encourage anyone local looking to get involved to reach out to them directly.

I was 12 years old when I was sent here, im 32 now and I'd say they took good care of me and did give me the best experiences with outtings because my home family never really did outting together so they showed me the… best things in life about adventure and having gratitude for your family.

I was at Abbott house and what I can say is that it was very beneficial for me. From what I gathered while I was there was good life skills and even though there were times I did not like that place I still appreciate… the care that the staff and case managers displayed. Very structural 😊

This place was inadequate. The whole program was a big joke. The staff didn't take things seriously and this place created some problems for me. When I stopped eating for awhile they didn't notice for 3 weeks. I stopped… eating for 3 weeks straight and they didn't do anything about it. When I did start eating again they put me on self harm than sent me to another hospital but not when I had stopped eating. That was bull and I wondered if I stopped eating for longer if they would of done anything since they didn't care at that time to do anything about it. I also want to report inappropriate touching by a male staff. One time I was sleeping and they were doing checks and the staff touched my head and hair. I was awake and moved my head and he left. I wondered at some point if he or anyone else ever did anything to me in my sleep or to other girls that went unnoticed. I also want to report discrimination. When I was there one of the teachers seemed to have a problem with me. When a girl would ask question she'd answer it but when I asked a question she'd ignore for sometime so I'd have to ask multiple times later and she'd get annoyed with me and wouldn't answer my questions as quickly as with other girls. Overall my experience there was pretty useless and a waste of time. Also there was a time when a guy with an ankle monitor worked there and tried to get with some of the girls there a touched some of them inappropriately. He left and nothing was done apparently. Ha. This place is a joke.

Abbott House is truly one of the most impactful organizations in our state. They have personally helped me, and I cannot say enough about the difference they make in people’s lives. The staff are some of the most… amazing, dedicated individuals I’ve ever met. People who give so much of themselves to ensure others have the support, guidance, and care they need. This is not just a program, it’s a lifeline, a safe place, and a cornerstone for so many families and individuals. Our state is better because of the work Abbott House does every single day. I am deeply grateful for everything they’ve done for me and for the countless others whose lives they continue to touch.

Yo I'm that same girl I forgot to add picture but the surgery I need now is like a half to a year of college for me 💀

It was pretty terrible I remember after playing volleyball my wrist started hurting and it got swollen it took months for them to take me in to see a doctor months of complaining. I apparently I got tendonitis in there… could've been from that wrist injury from volleyball or from writing essays for classes everyday for my classes I still have wrist problems never had any problems with my wrists before going here. Now I have to get a surgery to get both of my wrists fixed I can barely put any weight on them now without them hurting. And they kept me from leaving because my family refused to do therapy with me that wasn't my fault. This place Ignored my eating disorder for weeks and only one staff noticed I wasnt eating as much but when a skinny girl stops eating they immediately noticed. Like I know I wasn't a healthy weight when I got in there but I lost 60 pounds in there and the way I pushed myself everyday in the exercise rooms for weeks because of the monthly weight and height checks and seeing the numbers drop made me happy but not in a healthy way it made me obsessed and constantly writing down my own weights for months in my notebook needing to see that number drop. This place instead made it harder to get better. And instead made problems for me that still effect me multiple years later. I can't be in crowded places anymore due to the small amount of human interaction I got and made my social anxiety worse. And their CRISIS meetings in groups to "solve problems" would make them worse instead of helping they would make it worse by creating sides and making it easier to gang up on girls in what they called a "healthy way". This place restarted my self harm tendencies after I had been clean off self harm for almost a year. Instead this place made it so we'd get creative with it. Did I finish the program maybe... Did I learn anything or retain any information from this experience no instead I lost 2 years of my adolescent life being in a harsh environment where they graded us on our "behavior" No it only helped us to mask our issues. And holy this was a pain to text out my arms hurt 😭

The Abbot House is truly a remarkable place. The passion and dedication the staff has to the children they serve is extraordinary.

Abbott House in Mitchell SD. Did a great job with my family member. She was totally lost when I brought her there. She made great friends with girls living there and her staff. They helped her so much. The girl I sent… there is no long in sight. Where we live they all can see the difference in her. I would really tether Abbott House. We had a lot of hard times when there . The staff would help us work through problems and got us back on track. She had to do the steps to get visitors and get off grounds visit. But she made it through it. I am so proud of her and all of the people there that helped us. She wouldn’t be who she is today with out help. Even if you just donate to them helps. If you have a trouble child please sent her here. I would again. Thank you all for what you did. Laurie

Love the changes I see.

Can’t believe they allowed discrimination, favoritism, and racism in the homes from where I was sent to sit out my prison sentence. That’s what it was a prison sentence being in that place. Deb Franchetti was the warden… who needs to get humanized. The supervisors aren’t doing their best job because their appearances made one girl cry and he bragged about it and others rebel against them. Everytime I had to visit my parents I would get dragged back to the psychward

I was in the Abbott House about 24yrs ago and I really appreciate the skills I learned from being there it honestly helped me open up n become the person I am today and I will never forget all the staff that believed in… me you know who you are ☺️ great place

I grew up here in 1988 -!989..If you only knew how this place saved me! Nichole (Smith) DeVries.

My name is Hannah Brink and I am 17 years old. After 4 nearly consecutive years locked away in residential treatment facilities, I was placed into the Abbott House Bridges Program in Rapid City SD on August 11th 2020, a… day after I graduated high school.The Bridges Program is a foster home for youth, that also offers independent living apartments for youth aging out of foster care. For the past year or so I have resided in their Nesheim foster home. The home had just opened and the house was very very nice. The first pair of foster parents were clearly not fit for the job. Not even a month later, those parents were removed. The supervisors of the Bridges homes recognized the red flags and immediately took action to get the parents removed. They quickly replaced them with a temporary pair of foster parents. That pair was employed for about 4 months before they found another potential pair. Sadly, that pair did not last long either. They were removed within 1 month of their start date. Gladly, they finally found another possibly permanent pair of parents. Those parents are still there. Throughout my time at this foster home, I have felt safe and cared for. The supervisors do an amazing job at making sure everything moves smoothly. Soon I am moving into the apartments, because I will turn 18 next month. Aging out of foster care is scary. I have not been adopted or placed in a kinship placement. I always thought that aging out of foster care meant entering the adult world completely alone. No parents, no family to come home to on the holidays, no place to go when I need help. But since I have been in this foster home I have made very important connections with so many people. And I know I can always come back to the foster home when I need help or just someone to talk to. Now that I move on to my next step, I still have a large support system. And I can only accredit that to the Bridges program and all the people involved who have had my back. The Abbott House has given me so many amazing opportunities. They provided me with not only a safe place to be, but also all the resources I needed. I was awarded an Abbott House scholarship as I have just started college. I have grown so much as a resident here and I am extremely thankful. I wanted to leave a list of all the people who helped me directly throughout my time at Bridges. Francesca Romano, Ben Steever, Marty Johnson, Gary Johnson, Nicole Ekstrand, Jenn Bird, Doug Bird, and many more. Once again, I am extremely thankful for everything that Abbott House has done for me!

Way understaffed! The program leads are putting in at LEAST 12 hours a day---6 -7 days per week. In the pods, the programs are very inconsistent from one "counselor" to the next. There is little effort to make the girls… be accountable for participation in various in-house activities. Too many other things to list here. The entire system needs to be revamped. Sorry, it was a loooong time since I posted this, and I didn't receive notice that you had replied. In an answer to your proposal about ideas to revamp, I would be glad to talk to you about compensation for such information. Thanks!

What I was told about that place is far different than what I know. There are way to many girls there and alot aren't getting any help then really need. Seeing them only twice a week? And when the really need to talk… about something the therapist ain't available? So how or what is helping these girls? I wouldn't recommend them for help.

I have had family receive services here and can say that staff who looked over her cared and were nice. Had to wait out in the cold multiple times to visit family so they could’ve at least let me wait in warm lobby.… Sometimes when I would visit staff had confused looks on face when I asked to visit (said family’s name)as if she didn’t go there. Then she walked by in a group and I waved hi and eventually staff caught on and let us hangout in side room. Apartment/hotel room things on south side of building are vice nice and thoughtful. Ok place doing great work but could see some improvements in processes.

I will never forget this: Three young girls showed up at my door and were trying to escape. I did not understand what or where they were trying to escape from, but I knew they were scared, wanting to leave and obviously… troubled. I am not going to tell you guys how to do your job because I understand that taking care of these children as a job might desensitize you from how much pain that they are in, but I want it brought to the attention of whoever this concerns that these children are not faking abuse. Children this age do not naturally want to harm themselves. Even if they put a pencil eraser to their arms over and over again and "burn" themselves, it is most likely because they are trying to show abuse and they are unable to explain or recognize it on a conscious level. Whoever abused them is not being held accountable, has fled, gone away or is good at hiding it and manipulating children. This could possibly be a member of the staff or their own families. Just know that children that harm themselves like this do so because they are abused, damaged, manipulated . They are unable to talk about it or pinpoint the abuser, and can only mimic it in order to tell their story. Children that are abused and want to escape either the abuser or the memory harm themselves in this way. Most likely, in my opinion, they are still being abused. Maybe you guys are doing the best that you can, as they are not your children/problem, but I just wanted to tell the psychological aspect of it. This is probably a tough job for the people here.