Better Together at Shelter

Last December, a pipe burst at Shelter for Family Safety and sent hundreds of gallons of water through offices, hallways and into the basement. Despite the damage and disruption the flooding caused, staff and community partners showed that we truly are better when we work together.

CAO Mark Neimeyer said the incident began when a sprinkler pipe in one of the skylights froze and burst, triggering multiple system alerts and causing water to rain down from the ceiling. Shelter’s Facility Supervisor Mark Sigette received a call from an on-duty staff member and the fire alarm monitoring company, which immediately dispatched the Sioux Falls Fire Department.

“The fire department was able to quickly shut off the water,” said Sigette. “In just a few minutes, water spread through offices, corridors and even reached the basement. Fortunately, the HVAC, kitchen, IT room and residential areas were not impacted.”

When Neimeyer arrived at the Shelter that morning, staff were already helping clean up.

“We had a lot of water on the ground,” said Neimeyer. “What stood out to me was how quickly people sprang into action. Staff jumped in right away and we even had team members from the SFCH campus come help vacuum water, move furniture and load damaged items into the dumpster.”

Staff weren’t the only ones who jumped into action—community members also answered the call. INTEK Cleaning and Restoration arrived within an hour to clean carpets and set up fans, while the fire sprinkler vendor repaired and restored the system that same morning. Representatives from Lloyd Properties, who built Shelter, and Koch Hazard Architects were on site that day to determine the cause and develop a repair plan.

“They identified that cold air was entering through the skylights,” said Neimeyer. “Lloyd and Koch decided to make changes to all three sprinklers in the skylight to prevent this from happening again.”

Repairs moved quickly. Staff removed the damaged ceiling tiles, lights, carpet, trim and drywall, and restoration work began the following week. Within three weeks, Shelter returned to like-new condition.

Support from staff and the community didn’t stop with cleanup and repairs. Lloyd Properties covered the full cost of repairs, and generous donations from the community, including diapers, formula, toys and laundry detergent, started flowing in to replace damaged items.

Throughout the process, Sigette said he was impressed by staff and their willingness to help.

“Everyone asked, ‘What do you need me to do?’” said Sigette. “People dropped what they were doing and helped without hesitating. I couldn’t be prouder to work here! It was inspiring to see our value of ‘better together’ lived out in real time.”

While the pipe burst was not a fun thing to deal with during the holiday season, it showed us that even in unexpected challenges, CHS is strongest when everyone comes together. It was a powerful reminder that better together is more than a value—it’s how CHS shows up for one another and the people we serve.

1 Staff worked together to clean up the water. Unfortunately, water did get into our donation room in the basement and many donations had to be thrown away.

2 The pipe burst happened in one of the skylights. Lloyd Properties generously covered the cost of the damage and they insulated the other two skylights, so this doesn't happen in the future.

3 Hundreds of gallons of water fell in a matter of minutes.