Blog

When Joy Ryan and I visited Trinity Lutheran Church in Tolley, ND, the members of the congregation had many stories to tell. It is a longstanding part of our history that the first real Ranch location was the Butt farm…

Sitting down with Fred and Jean Baue is like attending a marriage retreat. They laugh together. They listen to each other. And their respect and love for each other come through loud and clear in their words and actions. Fred…

Although he humbly attributes most of his accomplishments to persistence rather than brainpower, Dr. Jim Knutson is a soft-spoken, kind man, with a big brain. After growing up in Minot, ND, Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the…

Forty-eight years after his stay at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, Mark French still recalls the lessons he learned and the people who impacted him. “I was at a fork in the road,” Mark said. “What I learned at the…

Concerned about children leaving the Ranch without follow-up care and a lack of community services to prevent children from needing residential treatment, Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch founded Dakota Family Services (DFS) in 2005. It has evolved over the years,…

em•pa•thy (noun): The ability to sense other people’s emotions and imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. Many Ranch kids come to us in “survival mode,” focused on keeping themselves safe and making it to the next day….

Every business has to pay attention to finances, even nonprofits like Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. While for-profit companies aim to generate returns for shareholders, our responsibility is to steward every dollar for the benefit of the people we serve and…

Children who experience trauma, which includes every child at the Ranch, are constantly in a state of hypervigilance. Their world has not been trustworthy or predictable. Most haven’t had adult role models who are consistent and dependable. They don’t know if…

Natalie is a survivor. Her dad is dead, and she’s lived through a string of other men in her mom’s life. Several of those men molested Natalie. Mom has tremendous addiction issues and loves Natalie deeply. Those two things are…

When a child begins treatment at the Ranch, everyone who works with them must clearly understand their unfiltered reality. That understanding allows us to respond with love, care, and awareness. For that reason, Ranchers receive an “intake introduction” for every…

My dad was a great reader. As a child, I didn’t know how precious that was. His formal education stopped after 8th grade, but he kept growing the breadth and depth of his knowledge his entire 89+ years. Not everything…

The world lost a really good man when Dr. Brent recently passed away. I know he is with his heavenly Father. I first met Brent when I was being interviewed for the role of CEO at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. It…

Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch is expanding its Minot residential programs to meet the needs of younger children. The only residential treatment facility that serves younger children in North Dakota is closing its doors and the Ranch is stepping up…

Ellie was playing with Sydney, the therapy dog, and I was at my desk, about 15 feet away. A Ranch staff was in the hallway with her, but it was clear she was directing her comment at me. “I have an…

Wonderful people everywhere find so many ways to support the healing of the children at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. First and foremost are their prayers. I always ask that everyone keep the children and staff in their prayers. Those…

Our blessed United States of America is 250 years old this week! What courage, ideals, and passion it took to create this great place! How fortunate we are to live here. It is our job to continue to build this…

Chaplain Rick Jones, VP of Spiritual Life at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, has a really big job. He takes care of the business side of things, including budgets, hiring, strategic planning, program development, curriculum development, schedules, supervision, contracts… all…

Early in my career, I had the good fortune to hear the recently deceased Notre Dame football coaching legend, Lou Holtz, speak. If you haven’t heard of him, suffice it to say he won a lot of games and did…

Essie has only been with us for a few weeks. She is a lithe, young teenager who wears very comfy clothes…usually in wild patterns and shades of pink. Essie has struggled her whole life against caregivers and schools and peers who…

“Write something that will bring them joy. If you have a grandparent you love, imagine you are making this for them.” Deaconess Kelly Bristow, Spiritual Life Coordinator on the Minot Campus of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, truly carries the…

At some point in their childhoods and teenage years, my three children started bringing home “hardware.” Their ribbons, medals, and trophies filled drawers and hooks and shelves. Some indicated excellence, others celebrated teamwork, and a few were for showing up!…

I write this on the anniversary of my own high school graduation. Never mind what year. Suffice it to say that kids dress like people of that decade when they are “going retro.” My emotions on that day are easy…

Jerry, a former president of the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch board of directors, used to talk about how the Ranch’s work was similar to one of his grandchildren’s favorite books, “How Full is Your Bucket?”. Jerry saw the children who…

Deaconess Kelly Bristow, Spiritual Life Coordinator on our Minot Campus, explains our need to feel loved in this way, “Feeling loved is one of our primary human emotional needs. Along with feeling loved comes our need for security, self-worth, and…