Hopelessness, helplessness, loss … I felt each … like a pit in my stomach … as I walked through a state Museum of Mental Health on one of my recent trips. On one wall I saw a picture of a fearful child from years ago, clinging to the leg of an adult. The child was 10 years old. No one had ever stopped to give him a name. He was known only as “boy.” Abandoned and alone, this was called “treatment” in the 1920’s. My heart hurt as I looked at that museum wall. No child should ever have had to endure “care” such as this.
Leaving the museum, I was filled with pride, because here at the Ranch everything is so very different. At the Ranch, there are no “left behind” children. There are no “valueless” souls. There are no “forgotten children.” And no child is doomed to spend the rest of his life known only as “boy.”
What we say is really true: Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch is a place of healing and hope unlike any you’ve known, a place where troubled kids and their families find professional care, compassionate expertise and new possibilities. It’s a place where we look each kid in the eye, walk with them and help them find their value and true identity in the world and in Christ.
Listen to the hope our children find:
“I fought staff members tooth and nail, I tried to hang myself, poison myself, cut myself, I ran out in 5ft snow with no shoes and almost lost my toes. I had extreme behaviors. I needed more love and understanding than I could ever ask for. The people at the Ranch never gave up.” – Former Ranch resident
And again:
“My childhood was filled with abuse, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual. I know for me personally I had lost all hope when I entered into the youth home. God had plans for me there, and once my attitude changed, my hope was restored” – Former Ranch resident
The difference is compelling, and it happens because of caring and compassionate people like YOU! Compelled by the love of Christ, you and over 8,000 other active Ranch donors nation-wide, refuse to let the most troubled, the most complicated, and the most amazing kids ever be forgotten.
There are no pictures on the walls of the Ranch of forgotten children. In Jesus, no one is left behind. In Jesus, no one is forgotten. In Jesus, no one is valueless. It’s what we believe as supporters of the Ranch. It moves us to give sacrificially and give our very best, because we know that in Jesus, every person has a name … God’s own child.
Thanks for helping us make the Ranch a place of healing and hope!
Paul Krueger, Senior Development Officer
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch
Learn more about Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch at DakotaRanch.org.
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Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch is a Christian residential treatment and educational center for children and their families. We help the most troubled, complicated, and amazing kids by providing best-in-class psychiatric therapy and trauma-informed care, where we look kids in the eye, walk with them, and help them become their best selves.