Dakotas America is a Community Development Entity (CDE) owned by Dakota Resources and Rural Development Finance Corporation.

There is a new youth wellness center going up in remote Box Elder, Montana the Mīyō Pimātisiwinkamik (“Mīyō”) which translates from Cree to the “Good Life Lodge.”

It is a lofty $30 million project that will have the power to change the well-being and vitality of an entire community seeking positive change. There will be healthcare, dental and optometry services, and behavioral health support, alongside sports courts and fitness equipment. Programming will include tribal language and culture, sports and educational curriculum, nutritional meals and a wonderful dose of encouragement all year long. 

And Dakotas America is proud to participate in the financing of this important community investment in the youth of the Rocky Boy Reservation.

Since 2004, Dakotas America, through the New Markets Tax Credit program, has supported low-income projects, bolstering job markets, reimagining healthcare and education, celebrating new businesses, rallying neighborhoods and supporting development in underserved communities across rural America nationwide. This has included places such as remote Native American reservations, the Midwest, the Appalachians, mountainous rural areas of the Pacific Northwest, the South, and the most isolated areas of the High Plains, as well as select minor urban areas which exhibit some of our country’s greatest challenges.

The Mīyō Pimātisiwinkamik Youth Wellness Center will be an entity of the Rocky Boy Health Center (RBHC) on the Rocky Boy Reservation of the Chippewa Cree Tribe in north central Montana. The existing health center provides family medicine, pediatrics and geriatrics. Its staff of 200 employees has been serving the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation’s population of about 5,000 residents for nearly 50 years. 

The team effort will see the youth center to completion by the end of 2025. 

“People will be looking to this project as an example,” says Hal Fairbanks, portfolio manager with Dakotas America. “It’s a novel approach on how to fulfill a need and take care of not just children but an entire community. It’s a great project.”

Fairbanks says the youth center is a healthcare facility that will promote social, cultural and behavioral welfare as extensions of healthcare, especially for children and young adults. 

“We believe the sports and fitness components represent a state-of-the art approach to preventative medicine and wellness management in a clinical setting,” he said. 

Educational programming includes cultural preservation

The Mīyō will also provide a thoughtful, yearlong curriculum that addresses leadership skills, team building, American Indian life skills, diversity awareness and family counseling. An emphasis on food sovereignty as Rocky Boy is considered a food desert. The kids will cultivate a greenhouse and harvest traditional game and buffalo to support the kitchen at the Mīyō. 

The consistency and reliability of this educational programming is meant to create an ever-welcoming atmosphere for any child or family seeking guidance and a trustworthy support system. The community should feel embraced, seen and capable.

“We want our kids to socialize in a safe space,” Rosette says.

“We dug deep here and put all of our effort and strength into building strong kids who will live and work in our community and walk with confidence.”

Financial adviser Tom Whitman, president of the Whitman Group in Columbus, Ohio, says his role in the youth wellness center project is to mind the business transaction toward closing, but, until then, he has enjoyed learning from Rocky Boy Health Center’s steadfast ambition. 

“The folks at the Rocky Boy Health Center have a community-first mentality,” says Whitman, who noted that RBHC held numerous town meetings and focus groups, visited the schools and talked with parents to ensure community input on the youth center. “They are so well managed and driven by the desire to meet the needs of their community. 

“When you see that effort, you really want to get this done for them.”

Whitman says he and the Tribe hope the youth facility will reinforce cultural education as well. All programs and activities at the facility will include Chippewa and Cree languages and heritage. They believe that fostering connections among youth and their elders is what will most empower the community to live well and to stay well. 

“This project was designed to help children keep their feet on the ground,” Whitman says. “The Tribe wants to make sure the children feel pride in who they are, use their language and perpetuate traditions.”

“Hats off to what Chippewa Cree Tribe is doing here.”

Job creation and camaraderie for all ages

The Rocky Boy Health Center began in 1974. RBHC serves over 5,000 patients in a high-quality, preventative healthcare setting that meets its patients where they are at.  A staff of over 200 employees with the Mission “To Educate and Empower our Relatives to Live Well.”. 

Fairbanks says the addition of the Mīyō Center will now ensure healthcare “for the entire being,” all in one place. Its unified system will create efficiencies in monitoring healthcare and tracking treatment metrics. 

“These programs and family services give people reason to show up and keep coming back,” he said. 

The Mīyō Center will create at least 25 new jobs in the community with hopes to serve up to 500 kids regularly throughout the year. 

Among a sprawling 30,000 square feet, the new facility will include multi-purpose classrooms, a commercial kitchen, an on-site garden for nutritional learning as well as engaging activities after school, on the weekends and during the summer. 

There will be a courtyard, sweat lodge, sports field, outdoor playground and basketball hoops, and meeting rooms to further facilitate the wellness teaching efforts for the youth. 

It’s a win for all and a sure sign of hope for the Rocky Boy community and for our continued work at Dakotas America. 

The Rocky Boy Youth Wellness Center plans to open in January of 2026. Learn more about the Rocky Boy Health Center here.