With the expansion of its programs to reach more young adults in key demographics in both existing and new locations underway, Lost&Found has added five new staff members and moved three staff members to new positions.
A number of these changes are a response to the S.D. Legislature’s passage of HB 1079 one year ago, which set aside funding for suicide prevention programs that Lost&Found applied for and is receiving from the S.D. Department of Health. With this funding, Lost&Found is providing its Peer2Peer Mentorship program, its Campus Resilience Index, and postvention policy and support services to all institutions of higher education in South Dakota without cost to those institutions. The funding will be available for four years.
Lost&Found is also expanding its services to universities in the Twin Cities area in response to a need and interest there.
“It was necessary to expand our team to meet new, statewide requests for support in South Dakota—especially in northeast and western South Dakota—while also reaching new audiences in Minnesota that requested our Peer2Peer Mentorship program,” explained Erik Muckey, Lost&Found’s Executive Director & CEO. “As we always have, Lost&Found strives to meet communities where their needs are, and this is another example of that in action.”
Muckey explained that the expanded team will bring a diverse array of skills to meet regional and community needs, and it will be more present in the communities that Lost&Found serves, which will allow for building deeper relationships and ensuring that people are connected to the resources they need.
“With these additions and changes, we can ‘go wide and go deep’ to serve our mission,” Muckey said. “With such great expertise in-house and outstanding partners to work with, we can hone in on specific needs within campus communities—where suicide risk is greatest—while also expanding that focused, community-centered attention to a wider array of audiences who need prevention and postvention resources.
“This is what ‘doing more’ to prevent suicide looks like.”
Here are Lost&Found’s new staff members:
Whitney Bischoff is a Community Prevention Advisor with Lost&Found. In her role, she creates and implements mental health education, suicide prevention, and resilience-building programming for universities in western South Dakota, primarily South Dakota School of Mines, BHSU-Rapid City, and SDSU in Rapid City. Whitney also assists with fundraising efforts West River.
Bailey Froelich is a Program Associate based at Black Hills State University. She is assisting Senior Prevention Specialist Corey Kennedy in implementing Lost&Found’s Peer2Peer Mentorship program and guiding its student chapter at BHSU.
Dawn Marie Johnson is a Native Liaison and Consultant for Lost&Found. In that role, she is reviewing Lost&Found’s programs to ensure they are culturally sensitive and relevant to Native youth as Lost&Found expands its programs to serve tribal communities. She is based in Sioux Falls.
Haven Kulesa is a Community Prevention Advisor with Lost&Found. In her role, she creates and implements mental health education, suicide prevention, and resilience-building programming for South Dakota universities, primarily Northern State University, Lake Area Technical College, South Dakota State University, Dakota State University, Southeast Technical College, and Augustana University. Haven, who lives in Brookings, also assists with fundraising efforts in eastern South Dakota and social media.
Marci Yost is a Community Prevention Advisor based in the Twin Cities focusing on implementing the Peer2Peer Mentorship program at various colleges and universities around the metro.
These staff members have moved to new positions:
Dakotah Jordan, CHW, is Lost&Found’s Education & Postvention Manager. In that role, she oversees educational content creation, external training opportunities, and postvention services & programs. Dakotah, who lives in Sioux Falls, had previously served as Lost&Found’s Survivors Joining for Hope Coordinator.
Carrie Jorgensen, NCC, LPC, is Program Manager of Student Programs at Lost&Found, overseeing Peer2Peer Mentorship and Campus Chapter programs. She had previously served as a Senior Prevention Specialist in Eastern South Dakota, and before that, she served as the advisor for Lost&Found’s student chapter at South Dakota State University when she was employed there. She lives in Brookings.
Genaveve Thomson is Lost&Found’s Survivors Joining for Hope Coordinator as well as a mentor in the Peer2Peer Mentorship program. She is based in Spearfish, S.D.
