By Tracy Briggs, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
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.
"About three years ago, we looked at the facility. It's always provided a place of hope, healing and care, but it had gotten a little shabby around the edges," says Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch President and CEO Joy Ryan.
The organization had funding to fix the outside of the home, but the interior needed work too. At that point, Ryan called Bryce Johnson, CEO of Home Builders Association (who was one of Ryan's students when she taught at the University of North Dakota). Ryan told Johnson about the youth home and the good work being done in it.
"We toured the facility and realized the whole property needed a little TLC," Johnson says. "It was actually a very easy decision to decide to help."
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