Alexis Buysse is currently the mental health officer for the Watertown, South Dakota, Police Department, a position she has been in since January 2021. She has been with the police department since May 2016. Officer Buysse works to connect individuals with mental health concerns and/or substance use disorders with resources within the community. She has worked to develop and maintain the relationships with the helping resources within the community to best assist those in need. Helping those in need fulfills her.
Monica Everson is the director of emergency services, respiratory therapy, and the sleep lab at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System in Watertown, South Dakota. Ms. Everson graduated from South Dakota State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She is committed to providing access to health care for all people in need. She is looking forward to teaming up with her colleagues to make a positive difference in the community.
Sara Foust is the director of Codington County Community Services in Watertown, South Dakota, where she has been leading a strategic planning process that has evolved into a collective impact to create system change in her hometown of Watertown. Developing mentoring relationships and building client skills is a priority for her. Ms. Foust earned master’s degrees in social work and public administration at the University of Nebraska Omaha before returning to Watertown, where she has been a social worker for more than 20 years.
Stacy Hendricks is the executive director for Brothers and Sisters Behind Bars in Watertown, South Dakota. She is passionate about serving God by encouraging men and women in her community who are battling the cycle of substance use disorder and incarceration. She strives to build relational bridges with other organizations in Watertown as well so that the people they serve can be as connected as possible. Ms. Hendricks earned an accounting degree from the University of South Dakota in 2004.
Kari Johnston is the executive director of the Human Service Agency (HSA), a community behavioral health center and community support provider agency in Watertown, South Dakota. She has worked at HSA for 24 years, starting as a mental health clinician and moving up through the years. She is a licensed professional counselor of mental health and has also provided addictions evaluations and support groups in the past. She is passionate about working with law enforcement and providing crisis care for those in her community. Ms. Johnston graduated with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from South Dakota State University.
Carmen Means is a circuit court judge in the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court in South Dakota. She was an attorney for 18 years before her appointment to the bench. She was appointed to be a magistrate judge in 2013 and worked in that position until her appointment to the circuit bench in 2015. She has been a circuit court judge in Watertown since that time. Judge Means presides over the Codington County, South Dakota, Drug Court; serves as the juvenile court judge; co-chairs the State Juvenile Detention Alternatives Committee; and handles a variety of cases in Codington County.