Maggie VanZee,
Agency Bookkeeper

The Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. (ROCS) is a private, non-profit Community Action Agency located in Lake Andes, South Dakota.  ROCS was incorporated in 1981. CSBG funded programs service 20 counties including Aurora, Bon Homme, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Clay, Davison, Douglas, Gregory, Hanson, Hutchison, Jerauld, Jones, Lyman, Mellette, Sanborn, Todd, Tripp, Union and Yankton.

In the fiscal year ending in September 2006, ROCS programs served over 28,000 people in all of the programs. In general, ROCS clients are senior citizens receiving services that allow them to stay in their homes; are very poor; are family units with children; have a lack of education and employable skills; and are representative of the ethnic makeup of the population. According to the 2000 census, fourteen of the counties served by ROCS programs have a higher percentage of families in poverty than the state rate. 

The mission of ROCS is to help the low-income and elderly sector move out of poverty and into self-sufficiency.  The Direct Service programs are designed to meet the needs of our clients.  The emergency programs directed by ROCS are emergency food and shelter including assistance with rent and deposits, food pantries and food vouchers; assistance with one months utility bill in emergency situations; school supply voucher program for K-12 students, garden program, employment assistance program for new employees, and weatherization kits. 

ROCS is governed by a tri-partite board of directors.  Board members represent the public, private and low-income sectors of the population. 

Jackie Scott,
Bookkeeper/Receptionist