St. Joseph’s Community Health Foundation (SJCHF) distributed $30,480 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch for CPR training supplies and safety upgrades on its Minot campus. Through the SJCHF’s Twice Blessed program, $20,480 was raised in addition to the SJCHF match grant of $10,000, to underwrite the entire project.…
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Just before Christmas, I received an envelope carefully addressed by one of our residents to “President Joy.” Inside was a folded piece of red construction paper. On the front of the card, a child had written, "Merry Christmas," and surrounded it with stickers of a Christmas tree and several Christmas stockings.…
I received a simple email from Cory Taylor, one of our many great Youth Care Workers on the Western Plains Campus in Bismarck. “‘L’ called and said she is doing well. She couldn’t talk long but she said she has two jobs and is doing well at both. She said to tell everyone she is meaning to stop by when she has the time.”…
"Empathy is from the German word, Eingühlung, which means to ‘feel at one with.’ When you empathize with someone, you enter into that person’s emotional or physical pain. You see whatever happened from that person’s perspective.”…
Our kids, who have endured so much, have learned to live in the here and now. We work with them to build a new worldview so they can become aspiring future-oriented and hopeful.…
We have so much to pray about. Please keep our staff and kids in your prayers. You are in ours.…
Cass County Electric Cooperative granted $2,000 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch to upgrade the lighted signs on the Fargo campus. The new lighting will cut down on maintenance and energy costs, allowing more budgeted funds to be used for programming for the kids served at the Ranch.…
Roanna Parker, our Life Skills teacher on the Minot campus, recently shared these photos of things our kids made during the sewing and cooking sections of her class. It encourages me to see our cherished kids learning life skills—skills they will carry with them their entire lives. And, on top of all they learn, our kids experience the love and care of their teachers and staff.…
Rev. Keith and Denise Less were drawn to the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch ministry because of the similarity between Keith’s background and that of many of the Ranch kids.…
“The people there [at the Ranch] on the ground, the people investing their lives in the lives of the young people—they’re the ones doing the work. I can’t be one of those people, but I can plant some energy in the effort," Smith said.…
Jim's heart for the Ranch is very personal. "When I was the age of Ranch kids, I would probably have been one of them... One reason I support the Ranch is because no child should have to go through a situation like that."…
At Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, we spend a lot of time getting the kids outside and into nature. That is intentional—because spending time in nature is healing, leading to higher levels of happiness and well-being.…
With a lot of hard work and hearts full of love, our Facilities Teams make the Ranch a home-like environment for our kids.…
Lola Vulles carries on her parent's legacy by giving to the Ranch, and helping children who didn't grow up in a family like hers.…
Lorens and Mabel Kingstad were hardworking children of immigrants who grew up during the Depression and the Dirty Thirties. According to their children, Tim Kingstad and Naomi Kingstad Murphy, they lived simple, frugal, and humble lives of "faith active in love."…
All the kids at the Ranch live in group settings. They all have their own rooms and opportunities for quiet time. They share common areas where they do crafts, study, play cards and games, watch television, etc. Of course, we have gyms and classrooms and chapels and dining centers, but the common areas they share with just a few other kids, are their “living rooms.”…
“You remind me of Rosa Parks. Have a good day, Ma’am.” Hmmm. When I write these weekly emails, I really try to convey the heart of the Ranch, or a sense of God’s work, or somehow show you how truly precious our Ranch kids are. Sometimes though, they are just kids.…
The Minnesota Power Foundation granted $2,000 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch for safety upgrades on its Bismarck campus. Specifically, funds will be used to update the fire alarm system.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, Fargo, ND, was the recipient of a $5,000 grant from the First Lutheran Church Foundation in Fargo, ND. The funds will be used to create a safer living environment for children at the Ranch as they heal from the trauma they have experienced.…
We started a new tradition on our Minot, ND, campus. The Saturday before Mother’s Day is “GROW Day,” or “God Rewards Our Work Day.” It is in its third year, and is fast becoming a favorite.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, Minot, ND, was the recipient of a $3,700 Fueling Futures grant from local energy transportation company, Enbridge. Funds donated to the Ranch will purchase a vaccine refrigerator for the Ranch’s Nursing department.…
“There are three ways to really harm children. They are abuse, neglect, and separation from their primary caregiver. We must weigh the harm of each and choose the one that does the least damage.” So said Matt Gebhardt, Casey Family Programs, at the Children’s Behavioral Health and Family Services Conference I recently attended.…
“Rhythm is important to self-regulation. It is part of being human.” As part of the Ranch’s ongoing cultural commitment to learning, several dozen of our therapeutic staff are engaged in a facilitated book study. The book, “What Happened To You?” by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey, is a conversation on the topic of trauma and brain development. Dr. Perry is a psychiatrist and a psychologist, and an acclaimed trauma expert, who coincidentally, was born and raised in North Dakota. At Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, we use trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive methodologies in all our work.…
As we celebrate the birth of Christ, I am reminded of the many people who support the work of the Ranch...people like you who make it possible to wrap our children in the care and love they need to heal. I visited with one of these dear friends earlier this month. He and his wife began supporting the healing of the children at the Ranch in the late 1970s or early 1980s. He lives in Texas, and his dear wife passed in April. He came to the campus with friends because his wife, as well as other family members, is memorialized on the “Tree of Life” sculpture in our lobby, and he wanted to see it in person. Of course, he toured the campus with his friends, too.…
Happy Advent Season! I am becoming something of an authority on unusual Christmas cards. All year long, people donate their partial boxes and singles and “thought- better-of-it" Christmas cards to the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Thrift Stores. Also, the cards from the 1950s and 60s they found in their Christmas decorations, or those left behind by Grandma. The good Ranchers at the Thrift Stores put the complete boxes or in other ways saleable ones into the queue to put out for the Christmas season. The rest go into special boxes for me and others at the Ranch to use as thank you cards in the month of December.…