We talk to people every day who have questions about the Ranch and our kids. This is the first installment of a series, “Frequently Asked Questions about the Ranch.”…
Blog
I love the energy of the new school year. But, I realized going back to school is not so exciting for everyone when I shared a lunch table with one of our kids (I will call him Allan) on the 4th day of school. He was talking about his school experience, which was filled with negativity. Allan told me school was a waste of time because people in his family don’t graduate. When I asked why he would say that, Allan said, “That’s just the way it is.”…
“The fact that the Ranch weds spiritual life and healing is what gets me to North Dakota in December when it’s 18 below,” says Rev. William Simmons (Pastor Bill). Pastor Bill, a member of the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation board of directors, comes to Ranch board meetings from St. Louis, MO—where he enjoys a much warmer climate, is recently retired from his position as the administrative pastor at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church, and enjoys family time with his wife, Gail, their four children, and four grandchildren.…
“Minot?? How do you pronounce that? Wait, where is Minot? North Dakota?!?! That’s like right up by Canada, right? You know it gets cold up there? Like super/don’t want to go outside for half the year/your eyelashes freeze together/plug your car in cold?!?!”…
Deaconess Kelly Jacob recently joined Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch as Spiritual Life Coordinator. In her new position, Jacob cares for the spiritual needs of the residents of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in Minot, ND, through the presentation of the Gospel, scriptural mentoring, moral guidance, and community involvement.…
The Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International (CARF) announced that Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch has been accredited for a period of three years. This accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards.…
My husband came home with walleye after a successful evening on the lake last week. Because he was going out of town the next day, we gave it away to friends who love to eat fish, but can’t seem to catch any! When they returned the cooler, they didn’t think it seemed right to return it empty, so they included a fresh peach. A lonely peach in a blue, soft-sided, promotional cooler seems like a small thing, but it started an avalanche of memories—the first peach of the summer and memories of my dear grandmother.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch received $5,000 from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, North Dakota District to support its Spiritual Life programming. The Spiritual Life Program is a key part of the Ranch’s work to provide hope and healing for troubled children and adolescents. Ranch employees encourage residents to participate in Chapel, Christian education, and Spiritual Life groups, as well as to meet individually with an on-campus Chaplain or Spiritual Life Specialist.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch received $1,500 from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod through the Walter Ray Meyer Endowment. This donation will be used to support the costs of the Greenhouse Program on the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch campus in Minot. These grant funds are available because Meyer had a desire to connect boys and girls with agriculture.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch will host its annual NYPUM Motorcycle Fun Run on Saturday, July 28, 2018. Event proceeds benefit the National Youth Project Using Minibikes (NYPUM), held each summer on the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Minot campus.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch received $15,000 from Sanford Health towards the cost of health and wellness programs and classes at Dakota Memorial School. Health and wellness are important to the healing of children at DMS, and this donation will help fund programs that teach the children lifelong healthy habits.…
Dakota Boys and Girls received $2,000 from Capital Electric’s Operation Round Up Program. This donation will be used towards the cost of the Greenhouse and Gardening Program at the Ranch’s psychiatric, residential, and educational facility in Bismarck.…
When you think about people who work in the construction trades, most likely you don't picture many getting teary-eyed on the job. But a recent project in South Fargo, probably had a few of them awfully close — not from an errant nail gun or hammer to the thumb — but from the emotional realization that their work made a difference in a child's life. On Thursday, Home Builders Association of Fargo-Moorhead Remodelers Council and its Home Builders Care of F-M Foundation cut the ribbon for the new Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Fargo Youth Home at 1641 31st Ave. S. The home is a residential child care facility for troubled children ages 12 to 19 who need a place to stay while going through therapy and working through trauma.…
Purchase spring plants, planters, vegetable plants, herbs, and more! Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch will welcome guests of all ages at its 13th Annual BLT Day, Saturday, May 12, 2018, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, 6301 19th Ave. N.W., Minot. The money raised through this family-friendly event purchase supplies/equipment (seeds, bulbs, soil, hand tools, pots, teaching materials, etc.), greenhouse utilities, maintenance/repairs and staff costs directly related to greenhouse program development and instruction.…
Horses have been a part of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch since the very beginning, before Equine therapy was even a recognized practice. One could say we were ahead of our time. Recently, one of our younger girls was not in the best of moods as she headed out to the barn for some time with her horse, Bonnie. She became even more frustrated when Bonnie seemed standoffish to her. Our therapeutic riding instructor and equine specialist in Mental Health and Learning, Amber, recommended that they sit down and quietly talk for a bit.…
Rev. Rick Jones, Chaplain, Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, not only ministers to our children, but to all 500 Ranch staff. He emails a daily staff devotion with the purpose of lifting us up, acknowledging the difficulty of our work, and reminding us of the Ranch's Gospel-focused care philosophy. Today's devotion seemed appropriate to share, as we all celebrate the National Day of Prayer.…
As part of the #minotrocks Kindness Project, Ranch girls painted rocks and placed them in random spots throughout Oak Park.…
For many of the students at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, school has been a difficult experience. This is especially true for students who haven’t developed coping skills to work through their intense emotions. In most school environments, classes are large and the easiest way to deal with disruptive behavior is to remove kids from the classroom. Removing them from the classroom causes them to miss essential learning opportunities, which puts them at an increased risk for continued failure. So, at Dakota Memorial School (DMS), we strive to keep kids in the classroom as much as possible.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch received $5,000 from the Cass County Electric Cooperative Foundation. The grant funds will be used to purchase appliances for the Fargo Youth Home, as a part of a renovation project with the Home Builders Association of Fargo Moorhead (HBA-FM). The HBA-FM, with the help of the Home Builders Care Fund, is donating time and materials for the rest of the kitchen remodeling project.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch received a $3,500 grant from Minnesota Power Foundation. The Ranch will use the funds towards the renovation of a bathroom in one of the five children’s cottages on the Minot campus.…
Farm Credit Services of North Dakota is proud to announce it has awarded the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation $5,000 as a recipient of the Pat-NOW Community Fund (PNCF). The grant funds will help fund the Ranch’s Minot campus greenhouse project.…
As Vice President of Communications for the Ranch, part of my job is to bring the stories of Ranch children to the donors who support our work. I don’t work directly with the kids at the Ranch, but I see them every day. They look and sound like typical kids. As I see and hear them smile, talk, laugh, and listen to music on their iPods, it’s easy to forget the reality of what these kids have been through. But then, occasionally, I have the incredible honor of having one of these children trust me with their story. Like D.J.…
Dearest Ranch Friends, I was visiting our cottages during our annual Fall Festival. One of our older Ranch boys, who is now a Senior at Dakota Memorial School, was pretty dressed up for a school day. He had on a freshly pressed polo shirt and nice khaki slacks. He is a more reserved child, but he sidled up to me and just stood there expectantly. Amber, the Care Coordinator for the cottage, gently said, “I think he has something to tell you, Joy.”…
Dakota Family Services, an outpatient counseling clinic founded by Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, recently promoted Kayla Falcon to DFS Clinic Coordinator. Her promotion was another step in the clinic’s expansion of services and clinicians to better meet the needs of children, adolescents, adults, and families in the Minot area.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch was recently awarded a $1,000 grant from Great River Energy to support the Ranch’s Greenhouse/Gardening Program in Bismarck. Grant dollars will be used to purchase seeds, bulbs, potting soil, and other supplies for the Ranch’s greenhouse/gardening program in Bismarck.…