TREC
TREC (Technology for the Rural Enhancement of Communities) is an IRS designated 501(c)3 nonprofit organization incorporated under South Dakota laws. The organization is the grantee for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Head Start Region VIII funding that supports the Badlands Head Start: Prenatal to Five (BHS: P-5) programs. Badlands Head Start: Prenatal to Five programs provide home-based Early Head Start (prenatal to 3 years old) services to families in Butte, Harding, Perkins, and Western Corson counties as well as either home based and/or classroom center based Head Start (3-5 years old) services for eligible families in Butte, Harding, Perkins, and Western Corson counties in western South Dakota. While Badlands Head Start: Prenatal to Five comprises the primary programs sponsored by TREC, as a nonprofit, the organization is guided by its vision and mission statements which allow TREC to serve any rural, western South Dakota community.
Vision Statement
Enhancing Rural Communities
This vision views TREC (Technology for the Rural Enhancement of Communities) as striving to enhance rural, western South Dakota communities, through working with each community’s members to build on the existing strengths of that rural area in order to better meet the needs of the community members.
Mission Statement
TREC works in partnership with the residents of rural, western South Dakota and is committed to providing quality services as well as access to community resources through responding to the evolving needs of rural communities with Head Start prenatal to 5 services, early childhood education, health and wellness programming, parent education, and other needed community programs.
TREC’s Board of Directors welcomes proposals from community groups that fall within the parameters of its mission statement. (Please access other official documents posted to this website for a more detailed description of TREC and Badlands Head Start: Prenatal to Five.)
TREC Board of Directors
| Brad Brunner | Rancher | Chairperson | Community Partner | Vale, SD | Term expires April 2026 |
| Erin Melling | Lawyer | Director | Legal Expert | Belle Fourche, SD | Term expires May 2024 |
| Janine Short | Loan Officer | Director | Fiscal Expert | Sturgis, SD | Term expires April 2024 |
| Elizabeth Christian | Education Specialist | Director | Early Childhood Expert | Spearfish, SD | Term expires October 2025 |
TREC Board Minutes
No June 2020 Mintues (COVID)
