Their labor

Joy Ryan, President/CEO

When I came to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch over eleven years ago, I attended a new employee training conducted by a seasoned Ranch staffer. She told us new folks, “This is hard work. You can’t do it alone. You need to take care of yourself. You’ll hear stories of these children’s lives that will keep you up at night. However, if you ever think you are working harder than these kids, you are wrong. Healing from trauma is some of the heaviest lifting a human being can do. And these kids are laboring to do it at 10, 14, 16 years of age.”

That’s not the kind of “labor” we usually think about on Labor Day. But, if Labor Day is a recognition of hard work and the dignity and value of that work, then these kids need to be celebrated.

I celebrate:

Shaun, who came to the Ranch when he was 16½ years old and had one half of a high school credit. With the help of Dakota Memorial School teachers, he completed all requirements for graduation in just seven months so he could graduate by his18th birthday. He now works in law enforcement.

Dawn, who tried to kill herself multiple times after her father raped her on her 16th birthday. She threw herself into treatment and school and met her new foster family with open arms. She plans to go to college to study chemistry.

Little Michael, who was sex trafficked by an unrelated couple that abandoned him when the abuse was discovered. He also had a traumatic brain injury that had gone undiagnosed and untreated. He learned how to do his own daily hygiene, engage in conversation, and showed a particular aptitude for science and wearing the color red. He asked to be baptized before he left the Ranch. For the last six years, he has been living, successfully, with an aunt who had been trying to find him for years.

Karen, who was so abused before the age of three that she had vision damage. She came to the Ranch at age 13 after being in 15 different foster homes. She worked so hard to learn to buffer her anger and talk things through. She quit breaking her glasses. This year I received an invitation to her college graduation. She graduated with a degree in performing arts.

The children who come to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch work very hard to move forward. We provide the tools, the expertise, the research, the love, and the prayers. But, they labor mightily.

Thank you for giving them their chance. The fruits of your labor support the promise in theirs.

“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.” — Hebrews 6:10

Please keep the children and staff of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in your prayers.