Mission: Codington Connects strengthens community resilience through collaboration, support, and accessible resources.
The Resilient Community initiative is focused on
making the community a safe and healthy place
for all of our residents. Through coordinated
efforts, the community has come together in an
impressive way to address some of the most
challenging issues facing our community. These
efforts improve our economic outlook as well as
make Watertown a better place to live.
In 2022, social service providers across the community came together to participate in a strategic planning process which has guided the focus of addressing needs.
A
Codington Connects Needs Assessment was completed in 2024 to more accurately identify what community members need. View the
infographic.
Housing
Develop Safe Affordable Housing that meets community needs
HEART
Create a strong support network that fosters life skills and meaningful relationships while creating an environment that informs, encourages, and supports mental health wellness
Childcare
Explore opportunities to offer adequate, safe childcare in Codington County
Centralized Services
Establish a centralized system of care
Justice Impacted
Changing the lives of people involved in the justice system with subtance use disorder
Community Transformation
Resilient Communities 
Our hard work earned the designation of being a Resilient Community! To earn this designation, the Codington County Social Services Advisory Council worked with SD Resilient Communities.
SD Resilient Communities was created by the Center
for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment at the University
of South Dakota School of Health Sciences, along with its partner organizations, to help address factors that put children
at risk for childhood maltreatment. It creates an environment that is trauma-informed so community members understand the effects of experiencing childhood maltreatment. The process identifies existing resources that can be used to strengthen prevention and increase a community’s capacity to collaborate across sectors. Codington Connects strengthens community resilience through collaboration, support, and accessible resources.
The Codington Connects Resilient Community initiative is focused on making the community a safe and healthy place for all of our residents. Through coordinated efforts, the community has come together in an impressive way to address some of the most challenging issues facing our community. These efforts improve our economic outlook as well as make Watertown a better place to live.
Identified Community Transformation Strategies
- Develop and provide training and programming that builds capacity for life skills and resiliency among Codington County residents (adult skills, basic skills, generational poverty).
- Develop and implement mentoring opportunities to build pro-social connections.
- Explore opportunities to provide long-term supports and resources to build capacity for self-sufficiency.
- Explore community perceptions and awareness of social services, stigma related to utilization of social services and/or barriers to access social services.