I’ve told you before, working at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch is hard work. Good work, but hard. It is hard to hear the kids’ stories of trauma, abuse, and mental illness. It is hard to be distrusted by these hurting kids and hard to earn their trust. That’s why it is so important that our folks always support each other, cheer each other on, and share successes.…
Blog
The Otter Tail Corporation Foundation awarded $3,200 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch to complete safety upgrades on its Fargo campus.…
Most of the children who come to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch have not been treated with respect. Most are trauma survivors. The very definition of a trauma survivor is someone who has suffered because of an absence of power. Perhaps it was an abuser, or poverty, or drug addiction, or death, but something in their lives exercised extreme power over them. That disparity led to them being abused, neglected, injured, and suffering. They are deeply hurt.…
The Kiwanis Club of Fargo granted $1,500 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch to purchase noise-canceling headphones for the Occupational Therapy program.…
Finding every single way to help children understand themselves, heal from their experiences, and become their best selves all depends on communicating in a way they can grasp. Since every child starts in a different place, professionals at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch use many different tools and approaches.…
“Kids don’t really think about suicide, do they?” or “Kids just want attention, they can’t really want to die.” Even with all the media coverage of children’s mental health, I'm still asked questions like these.…
I have shared before in these messages about our Chaplain, Rev. Rick Jones. Chaplain Rick has been with Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch for 11 years. He is the best person ever to be a Chaplain at a place for hurting children. He is strong in his faith, compassionate, and relatable. The children love him.…
The Elmer & Kaya Berg Foundation granted $1,000 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch to purchase necessary toiletry, clothing, and home items for the Caring Closet at Dakota Memorial School, Fargo.…
I am not an athlete. Oh, I work out. That’s not the same as being an athlete. An athlete has grace, stamina, field awareness, and coordination. Those I don’t have. I can lift heavy things, but that’s about as far as it goes.…
I don’t want to nag you… but you really need a will. If you don’t have one, the state has one for you. It’s called “probate,” and it’s a slow and painful process that ignores any wishes you may have had for whatever you left behind.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch welcomed Karin Pierce and Earl Torgerson to its Board of Directors.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Chapel to be built on its Bismarck, ND campus. The event was attended by staff, board members, donors, representatives of the architectural and construction companies involved, and members of the Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC.…
Karen, a woman I work with, uses a term I love—“God wink.” I don’t know for sure how she would define it, but when she says it, I imagine God with a smile, nodding just a little and tipping a hat. A gesture of “I see you. Well done.”…
On August 3rd, I celebrated my eighth Ranchiversary! I came to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in 2015 after spending over 22 years at another human service organization. Before that I worked in the corporate world and I’ve also done some university teaching in communications and business.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, Bismarck, ND, was the recipient of a $5,000 grant from the BisMan Community Foundation, a component of the North Dakota Community Foundation.…
I am frequently amazed by the people who choose to work at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. They are a compassionate, courageous bunch. One such person is Jan. Jan came to the Ranch looking for a very part-time experience to augment her corporate banking job. She had plenty of work in her “real” job but was looking to find a way to impact kids and families in a more hands-on way. We are very grateful she found us.…
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 purchase new books requested for the Fargo Library of Dakota Memorial School, the on-campus school of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, as well as classroom sets of books for the English-Language Arts classroom.…
I have a new cross in my office. It is made of bigger than normal popsicle sticks… I think they are called “craft sticks.” The vertical stick has seven pink fingerprints in a row, covering the length of the stick. The horizontal stick is painted a bright pink with random geometric shapes. It’s a little off-center, but not too bad. Overall, you get the definite impression it was made by a child. On the back, printed in felt tip marker, it says, “I CAN, through Him.”…
With back-to-school season coming up, it’s important to think about where you’ll be shopping for yourself or your family. Before you start browsing the shelves at your local mall or department store, take some time to consider the monetary and environmental benefits of buying slightly used clothing at your local Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Thrift Store.…
At the end of the school year, I was on our Bismarck campus for board meetings. In between meetings, I was walking through the school when I heard my name from one of the classrooms. I stuck my head in the door, the teacher nodded, and a trim boy in a suit and tie came into the hall and gave me a hug.…
I had dinner a while back with some people like you. Well, I guess I don’t know if they are really like you, but you do have some things in common. You care about the kids at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. You choose to believe these hurting kids have value, can heal, and are all God’s children.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch will receive $100,000 from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, also known as Lutheran Women in Mission, to support a capital campaign to build a Chapel on its Bismarck, ND campus.…
Jeremiah* yells a lot. He deserves to. Jeremiah came to us with a history of horrendous, unspeakable trauma at the hands of his biological parents. He was too little to do anything to protect himself except cry and yell.…
No matter how difficult things are at home, driving away from the Ranch without your child is not easy. "It was scary taking that leap of faith. We didn't know what to expect, and as we drove away, my mom heart was just sad and apprehensive," said Meredith, mother of former Ranch resident, Blaise.…
My 94-year-old mother-in-law hasn’t led an easy life. She had nine children before she was 30 years old. She and my father-in-law built a small dairy farm on a piece of land that no one else really wanted. She worked “off the farm” for many years to bring in some much-needed income and to ensure the family had health insurance.…