The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
In 2023, Simply Smiles celebrated 20 years of providing bright futures for children, their families, and their communities. From driving a yellow school bus full of supplies from Connecticut to Mexico in 2003 to working alongside thousands of volunteers to provide extensive community programming to opening our own Children's Villages, we have so much to celebrate. Thanks to our supporters, Simply Smiles has had a profoundly positive, life-changing, impact on thousands of children over the past two decades.
In Spring 2023, we made the decision to put the village on an operational pause. While we have successfully piloted the Simply Smiles Children's Village on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation, caring for children requires a team, shared resources, and the solidarity of a village. And despite a concerted effort, we have not yet been able to realize that village vision. The remote location of the village, combined with the difficulties of life on the Reservation, proved to make hiring and retention of long-term foster parents, mental health professionals, and support staff extremely challenging. As an organization, we know that systemic change takes time. We're proud that our years of extensive work on the Cheyenne River Reservation have demonstrated how to support and partner with Native communities to support our shared goal of caring for and protecting youth. Now, we are working with our local partners on determining the next phase of the Simply Smiles Children's Village and learning how we make this model more appropriately and sustainably serve Native children, their families, and communities.
In Mexico, we continue to focus on providing the highest level of support and care for the youth living at the Children's Village, support our local leadership and staff, and explore how we can continue to improve resources.