Dec. 22, 2025

The city of Sioux Falls has recommended 10 organizations for funding to address priorities in the year ahead.

They were selected through a new Community Partners Program after applying for funding to address three priority areas: supporting at-risk populations; expanding culture, arts and community programming; and strengthening economic vitality and growth.

The funding is allocated through a competitive request for proposal process.

The selected organizations for each priority area include:

At-risk populations

• Bishop Dudley Hospitality House
• East River Legal Services
• Solace
• St. Francis House

Culture, arts and community programming

• Levitt at the Falls
• REACH Literacy
• SculptureWalk Sioux Falls
• Sioux Empire Community Theatre/The Premier Playhouse.

Economic vitality and growth

• Downtown Sioux Falls Inc.
• Sioux Falls Development Foundation

“We have great organizations doing tremendous work across Sioux Falls, and we thank everyone who applied for the Community Partners Program,” said Shawn Pritchett, the city’s finance director. “The city relies on outside organizations to help address priority areas in the community. Through this new program, we can build even stronger partnerships and demonstrate measurable impact to these areas.”

The Community Partners Program transitioned community funding requests from traditional subsidy agreements approved through the city’s annual budgeting process to a structured RFP process.

“The change establishes a consistent and transparent process for evaluating funding requests and awarding contracts to organizations best positioned to serve community needs,” according to a statement from the city.

“The new process also standardizes how program proposals are reviewed and ensures that funding decisions align with city priorities.”

As part of the formal RFP process, the next step is for the city to negotiate contracts with each organization. Once those are finalized, they will go to the City Council for approval. Contract details, including funding amounts specific to each organization and reporting metrics, would be made public at that time.

Funding amounts for each priority area include: $450,000 for at-risk populations; $300,000 for culture, arts and community programming; and $900,000 for economic vitality and growth. Organizations will receive funding in 2026 with the option to renew for one year in 2027 if contract terms are met and budget is approved by the City Council. The Community Partners Program will reopen again in 2027 for the 2028-29 funding cycle.

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