Feeding People
Come to the Yankton Contact Center to get food and other basic needs for
you and your family.
Nourishing Lives
Support With Basic Needs
We provide utility, rental, or lodging assistance or gasoline for out-of-town medical appointments.
Connecting Community
We are able to direct you or your family to the appropriate services.
Yankton Contact Center
Feeding People. Nourishing Lives. Connecting Community.
Address:
321 West 3rd Street, Suite B02, Yankton, SD 57078
Lower level of the Yankton County Government Center
9:00 am – 5:00 pm CST, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday
Main Phone:
Who We Are
People in need often start with the Yankton Contact Center. YCC responds to crises and often hopeless situations experienced by individuals and families throughout the Yankton area to get food, gasoline, temporary housing, some medications, and many other social services requiring a connection now. At the Yankton Contact Center, if any man, woman, or child is hungry, they can come to us. We are the only food source in town that is accessible every day, all day, right away. We proudly serve many of our friends in Nebraska or within about 60 miles of Yankton.
Yankton Contact Center is the only source in town for individuals needing help managing and keeping their social security payments safe and secure with help from our Representative Payee Coordinators.
Our History
Early 1974: Church Women United facilitated multiple meetings of Yankton citizens to examine the needs of the community. The Contact Referral Center for Human Resources – nicknamed the “Yankton Contact Center,” began to form. The early focus was to create an informational booklet that included all Yankton area organizations, their officers, and agencies related to social concerns. Mary Helen Gannon served as the first Director of YCC. Operations to distribute food, clothing and the informational booklet began.
The Yankton area has to thank the members of the first board of the Yankton Contact Center in 1975: Allen Harms, Vivian Auld, Glen Bachman, Ruth Battin, S. Perk Bearden, Marjorie Gross, Marilyn Huntley, Rev. Robert Luhn, Sister Jeanne Ranek, Blanch Robertson, Barbara Sundling, and Daymon Young.
Our Mission
The Yankton Contact Center is dedicated to meeting the emergency needs of people in the greater Yankton area who are experiencing a crisis by providing them with a continuum of services to help them stabilize their lives while maintaining their dignity.
Calling all Creatives! Enter Our YCC T-Shirt Design Contest!
You have the chance to win a $50 Yankton Bucks!
Contest registration begins February 15, 2025
Contest awards will be announced April 22, 2025.
Volunteer
Time
Volunteers are the heart and soul of what we do. They bring our mission to life. Volunteers often say they
“get more than they give.”
Become a Fundraiser
Talent
You can raise meals and money to help our neighbors in need! We make it easy for you to get started and provide ideas and tools to help you have fun while helping others.
Corporate, Association and Individual Giving
Treasure
Serving your community is good business. Together, we can support your philanthropic goals and engage your employees, association volunteers, or church members.
The Needs Are Critical
Housing Cost Burdened
People living in Yankton must pay 35% or more of their income on housing costs making it difficult to afford necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care.
Federal Food Benefits
Yankton residents seeking food assistance denied because of challenges meeting eligibility mandates.
Requests Filled
Every individual or family who arrives at the Contact Center finds help in their need for food, nourishment, or connection. Clients may often get up to three days of meals for their families with fresh milk, eggs, and meat. We provide many services in an emergency when no one else can. We are passionate about helping others and collaborating with other social service agencies throughout the Yankton area.
These statistics are a compilation from the Yankton Contact Center, Avera Sacred Heart Annual Reports and Surveys, The United Way & Volunteer Services of Greater Yankton 2018 Reports with the Hunger Collaborative, and the 2019-2020 United Way Community Assessment Report and all its Appendices.
Why We Do What We Do and We Count on You
It is estimated that in 2040, Yankton County will reach almost 30,000 inhabitants. As per 2017 reports, poverty levels in the city rose from 15.4 % in 2013 to 16.9% in 2017. This represents an increase of almost 9% in the poverty level. From the same report, 1014 households in Yankton were part of the SNAP benefits. That is 1,835 recipients. Amount per household is only $126.03. Many are denied.
When someone cannot manage their bill payments out of their social security check (~$700 to ~$1400 per month), we help them with budgets, check writing and responsible spending. Sometimes, it is protecting that individual’s social security money from dishonest relatives or scam artists.
Yankton Contact Center is the only non-profit who can immediately respond to the crisis needs of anyone seeking food, some medications, rental assistance, utility shut off deferment, temporary housing, gasoline to get to work or an out-of-town medical appointment. If a child needs formula or diapers, we are here to help immediately. Many other social services send their clients to the YCC when their hands are tied or funds are exhausted.