In the summer of 2014, the ContainIt team began working on transforming a used shipping container into dormitory space to provide a refuge for youth on the reservation. Covenant Day interior design and art students supported the ContainIt team providing the planning, drafting, specifying, procuring, and installation of furnishings and materials. In December 2015, ContainIt’s first transformed shipping container was delivered to Pine Ridge Reservation, just in time to provide shelter during the harsh winters. Since that first trip, Covenant Day has delivered three additional containers to the reservation.
2015: ContainIt delivered a 20' that included 3 beds and a student workspace
2017: ContainIt delivered three 40' containers. These made up a family unit with a bath/kitchen combo and a singles unit with a bath/kitchen combo.
2018: ContainIt delivered a coffee house container.
2019: ContainIt announces its newest initiative of expanding to create tiny house communities for the homeless in Charlotte.
In May 2018, Covenant Day delivered a coffee house container to Pine Ridge Reservations in an effort to foster sustainability and create jobs on the reservation.
Fewer than 40,000 Lakota Indians live on the more than 2-million acre Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The reservation is plagued by poverty, alcoholism, and abuse. The school drop-out rate, infant mortality, and teenage suicide rate is far higher than the U.S. national average. The mobile homes and trailers are overcrowded, with many homes housing more than fifteen people.
In 2014 a group of CDS students and teachers travelled to Pine Ridge Reservation to see how Covenant Day could help make an impact. Their experience was eye-opening as they were constantly reminded of the power of prayer and that although they are more than 1,500 miles away, they can make a difference in the lives of others.
On March 6, a team of Covenant Day students and adults boarded a plane and headed to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; little did they know that they were about to experience the power of the church from an entirely different perspective. The team had a lot to accomplish in just several days with plans to visit the Coffee Shop Container that a ContainIt team brought to Harrison and LaDonna NoNeck in 2018, serve at a local charity, and lead worship during a Sunday church service.
By the end of the year, students in our new Restoration and Sustainability Practicum will have a unique skill set to add to their resumes: built a car. High school students are teaming together to build, document, market, and sell a Factory Five Mk4 Roadster with the intent of raising funds to support ContainIt's tiny house communities initiative.