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Abundant Life Ranch
Sierra Grant: $5,000 in the 2nd quarter of 2018
Mission: Abundant Life Ranch uses horses and the ranching lifestyle to teach relational health to children and adults. In doing so, we focus on three pillars – communication, trust, and respect – because we believe each individual is created with a plan and a purpose so they can live out an abundant life.
All the non-profits we collaborate with have a vision for their community—what’s your vision?
For the forgotten and voiceless of our community to have a safe place to grow and walk away empowered.
Describe your organization and/or the work you do in three words.
Empowering relational health.
What specific work have you been using donations to accomplish recently?
With the money graciously granted by Bank of the Sierra, we have been able to help fund a portion of our 90-minute sessions for children and adults. We have also started working with Rescue the Children and Molly’s House.
Our 90-minute sessions comprise approximately 40 percent of our total programming – thus making 40 percent of our services available for no cost to the caregiver or appointed adult. Our hearts want to share what we’ve been blessed with, and over 95 percent of our participants could not participate if there was a fee for these sessions. It is not uncommon to have children bring coins to donate for their time here. We treasure that they want to help however they can, and are grateful to our community who add dollars to those coins. The dollars help us continue to serve our community.
Do you have an individual success story to share from your organization’s efforts?
When a child walks up to you for the first time, how they greet you gives you a glimpse of their self-confidence. Emily and her grandma, Judy, shared Emily’s new personal growth through her time at the ranch. Judy shared, “When I first got Emily she wouldn’t smile or look people in the eye. During her time here at the ranch I’ve seen Emily’s self-confidence increase and she’s getting better at looking people in the eye. And she definitely smiles when she’s here.” Emily shared, “I like the horses because they’re all different. Some are harder than others. And coming here gives me self-confidence.” Not everything has been easy and perfect for Emily, both in life and in working with the horses. Her time at the ranch has been a mixture of persevering through challenges and being rewarded with great success because of her perseverance. Through working with the different horses and their personalities, Emily has learned how to trust, how to not give up in frustration, and how to believe in herself. I wish I could bottle up and share the smile that she cannot contain when she experiences the reward of her commitment. It is also rewarding to our team to hear how the confidence she is gaining is impacting her interactions with her peers in a positive way. There is something about working with a large animal and having success that empowers an individual.
Educating the public about causes is an important part of non-profit work. Is there something you’d like everyone to know about the people you help or the efforts of your team?
We are honored to be a part of impacting the lives of our community. The work nonprofits do in our community brings help and health to our community as a whole. Watching participants see themselves through the mirrored actions of a horse and grow within themselves is a humbling opportunity. So many times, our team shows up ready to serve and bless, yet we in turn feel blessed to be a part of someone’s journey in life. The life impacts go both ways. Our team gets to watch and cheer on each individual’s personal growth.
We encourage everyone to share what they’re passionate about, blessed with, or gifted with, with one other person, and together we can impact the world one life at a time.
What should people know if they want to volunteer with Abundant Life Ranch?
Please visit our website. There are many ways to help as an individual or a group. Please let us know if you have a group who would like to come. We have many maintenance projects that a group could help with for a few hours.
To find out more about Abundant Life Ranch, please visit their website and social media:
Facebook: Abundant Life Ranch
Instagram: @abundantliferanch