Reentry program helps system-impacted families in Rapid City

RAPID CITY – When Eric Brings White, Oglala Lakota, came home from prison, he did everything right: went to school, earned a social work degree, completed parole early, and started applying for jobs.

No one would hire him.

Because of a felony on his record, he was turned away from employment and faced barriers to housing and basic services. That experience led to the creation of I.Am.Legacy, which was hosting a three-day seminar, entitled From Chains to Ceremony, at the Ramkota.

While South Dakota has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, 2.3-percent as of March of this year, the rate for formerly incarcerated individuals is estimated to be roughly thirty percent. A 2022 Bureau of Justice Statistics study suggests that people with felony convictions are significantly less likely to be employed compared to their peers without convictions and often experience a forty percent reduction in lifetime earnings.

I.ndigenous Am.ericas Institute of Legacy is a grassroots, community-based organization in Rapid City focused on helping people impacted by the criminal legal system and their families. It often impacts families from children to grandparents who are often the sole caretakers of the grandchildren.

The state of South Dakota has one of the highest rates of federally sentenced Native Americans in the country, at nearly fifty-seven percent of the federal caseload, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

Because of his achievements, Eric received a Bush Fellowship, a regional leadership grant intended to help recipients further their education, training, and personal development. Instead of using the money solely for his own advancement which is what the Bush Fellowship is specifically for, he used it to open I.Am.Legacy.

Morgan Brings White, Eric’s wife, co-founder of I.Am.Legacy, and one of the organization’s program operators said they secured an affordable location in the mall and began operating even before their nonprofit status was finalized.

“My name is Morgan Brings White, and I’m one of the directors at I.Am.Legacy,” she said. “The history of our community is displacement and removal from our lands, so it was important for us to have a location that’s a hub for us up here in Rapid City.”

The organization opened in 2019 as a drop in, culturally grounded hub for people coming out of jail and prison, as well as their relatives. Morgan said nearly every Native family is impacted by the legal system.

Native Americans in South Dakota are incarcerated at nearly seven times the rate of white residents.

The organization can help navigate the system but also provides healing for individuals who have experienced a traumatic event, abuse, crisis, or hardship. Morgan said identifying trauma can often help to a better understanding of recovery.

“We’re trying to be like a spoke on this wheel that’s the system – the criminal legal system, CPS (Child Protective Services), DSS (Department of Social Services), all these systems that are barriers for us to navigate,” Morgan said. “If we can be that spoke, this is where the community can come if they need help.”

One of I.Am.Legacy’s primary programs is a six-week curriculum delivered inside the jail.

Staff meet with women every Friday, while male staff work with the men. The curriculum is focused on identifying the “root” causes of harmful behaviors, including generational trauma, addiction, and cycles of violence.

Native American children are heavily overrepresented in foster care in South Dakota often due to parental incarceration because of substance abuse issues for non-violent crime, which results in children having a twenty-two percent chance of entering the system before the age of 18. (According to the South Dakota Department of Social Services FY2025 Child Protection Services Annual Report, 1,201 of the 1,709 children in foster care were Native American, just over 70% of the statewide total.)

“Because of that hurt, they’re only able to see life through this lens, and it’s a hurt lens,” Morgan said. “We try and help them navigate through that hurt so that they can get to the level of change. What do I have to do? What does a wellness plan look like?”

Participants are encouraged to write and reflect on early experiences that shaped their outlook. Sharing personal histories in the group is voluntary and happens only when individuals are ready.

I.Am.Legacy emphasizes daily wellness in four areas: spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. Staff are expected to model that work. Many of them, Morgan said, are formerly incarcerated or in recovery themselves.

“Everybody that’s working here at Legacy is working on themselves,” she said. “Most of us here are all formerly incarcerated, past addicted to meth, drugs or alcohol, and we’re working ourselves out of that so that when we’re able to turn and help people, we know how to get them out of that stuff.”

For people leaving jail or prison with few supports, I.Am.Legacy often functions as an informal family network.

“We’re kind of like surrogate family with a lot of them when they first get out,” Morgan said. “We always try and catch them. Come to Legacy, participate in the groups, participate in the curriculum, and then we show them how to have fun and enjoy life without any of that stuff.”

Morgan, who has been sober for 11 years, grew up in Pine Ridge in an alcoholic household and became a mother at 16. She was pushed out of Central High School in Rapid City and later completed her GED before attending college and helping to launch I.Am.Legacy.

Her own family’s experience is one measure of change. Her 22-year-old son is the first in both her and her husband’s extended families to graduate from high school and is now in his third year of college studying social work.

While the organization is rooted in Indigenous experience, it is open to anyone.

“It’s just community,” Morgan said. “Everyone’s welcome. We’re not like, Indigenous-only or anything like that. You can just look at our Facebook page, see what the events are, and show up.”

Because female incarceration is high in South Dakota, women’s programming is a key focus. Native American women account for sixty-one to sixty-three percent of the female prison population. I.Am.Legacy hosts women-only groups that address grief, caregiving and the transition into leadership roles within families. The organization also offers cultural activities such as monthly trips to Bear Butte, timpsila and berry picking, and sewing moccasins and traditional women’s tool belts.

In a state Morgan describes as “very much a red state,” I.Am. Legacy is positioning itself as one of the few local resources designed by and for system-impacted families. From weekly jail groups to community circles and cultural outings, the organization aims to reduce barriers to reentry while supporting long-term healing for participants and their relatives.

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

The post Reentry program helps system-impacted families in Rapid City first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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