Opening a Door of Hope
ADVERSITY
is something we have all experienced.
But adverse experiences during childhood can have devastating consequences due to the impact of toxic stress on brain development.
According to a 2018 study, nearly 45% of children in the United States have experienced serious adversity ranging from poverty and parental incarceration to child abuse and neglect.
BUT WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Our mission is to provide a safe haven for
empowering youth to overcome adversity
and realize God’s purpose for their lives.
Hurting children need someone to care
158,258 substantiated cases of child neglect in the US
The trend of children in foster care over the past 10 years has remained flat
Children ages 11+ (35% of children in the system) are more likely to have multiple placements and are harder to find long-term placement
Children out of foster care have significantly worse outcomes than other children
From 2012 to 2018, substantiated cases of child neglect in Oklahoma rose 211% to 13,394.
A place to call Home.
Family Style Residential Care
A critical aspect to ensuring the effectiveness of our program is that the children’s homes feel like home. Each home will have family-style living spaces including a living room, kitchen, dining table & laundry room.
Each home will house up to ten boys and girls with an important balance between safety and comfort. A married couple will serve as full-time house parents for each home. Houseparents will have 24x7 residence in the home allowing them to provide an environment of stability and a relationship of trust. All residential care staff will be trained to incorporate the Teaching Family Model within the homes.
Normalcy is a critical goal in creating a home environment where healthy relationships and behavior can be modeled.
Experiential Educational Services
Many students that do not have a normal, two-parent home will come to us with challenges in education. We will use a combination of in-person, computer-aided, and hands-on curricula in order to assist each child in reaching their full potential.
Our onsite school will teach a Biblical worldview and will use a trauma-informed approach that supports all areas of development: academic, social, physical & spiritual. All students will attend Bible class & weekly chapel services. We will have a maximum of 20:1 student to teacher ratio, and we will serve both our residents, children of our staff, and other children in the community.
In addition to the core curriculum, we will offer a variety of elective and extracurricular activities from music & woodshop to FFA & Student Council.
Human-Centered Therapy
In order to help facilitate the needed healing from adverse childhood experiences, we will tailor the support system and therapy plan to each individual resident and their family dynamic. Most plans will include individual & group therapy sessions. Some plans will include family therapy sessions when reunification is a goal for the child and family.
Equine therapy, through the Eagala Model, will be an important tool that will be used. There has been significant evidence of effectiveness in helping youth that have suffered trauma. We will also explore other opportunities for healing with the residents including music, art & theater.
What about when the odds are stacked against you?
The outcomes of those involved in the foster care system are staggering. And unfortunately, resource limitations often prevent organizations from continuing care into these critical times of transition.
Independent Living
Youth remaining in care beyond 18 double the odds of employment & educational success and reduce the odds of teen pregnancy by 38%.
Most supportive families do not kick their kids out of the house on their 18th birthday. Neither will we.
All of our efforts come to a critical mass at the age of adulthood. We will continue to support our residents through the challenging decision-making & transition from high school to college or vocational training. It is our goal to ensure that all of our residents have an opportunity to thrive!
Important elements of our transitional living program will include:
Apartment housing on campus
Accountability with frequency based on resident’s needs
Coaching on college & career decisions
Budgeting & spending review
Established goals with the ultimate plan for transition to off-campus living
11% of youth ages 16-24 are not enrolled in school and not employed
Discovering Potential
It is our desire to see young people find a sense of true purpose and a motivation to rise above the low standards that are being set for the youth of this generation.
Through Camps & Leadership Programs that are geared towards various themes of interest, we will build skills and character that will impact all areas of their lives - social, physical, academic & spiritual.
Some of the camps you’ll see at High Point Youth Ranch may include:
Church Youth Camps
Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) Camp
Music/Band Camp
Visual Arts Camp
Heart of David Leaders
The first program that High Point Youth Ranch has hosted is The Heart of David Leadership Program. This is the third year we have facilitated this program, and each time it has had incredible results. In our 2021 program, we worked with sixteen young men ages 14+.
Through this intense ten-week program patterned after the U.S. Army, we focus on discipline and endurance. We take the things that we learn in physical fitness and survival skills and apply them to all other areas of our lives. We work with young men from all walks of life - some with great family support, others that are in single-parent homes, or some that do not live with their parents. Regardless of the circumstances, the young men feel the encouragement and guidance of our mentors.
We are grateful to have the opportunity to play a small part in seeing these young men develop into their full potential for God, their families, and their communities!
How is High Point Youth Ranch different?
We are doing the Will of God in helping His kids. Everything starts with Him.
We are placing an emphasis on traditional Biblical values & character building.
We are focused on the whole person with the whole program.
We will promote healthy relationships with parents for the healing of the family - even if the parent is incarcerated.
We will leverage the business acumen of our board, leadership, and staff to create opportunities on the Ranch to provide education, character, and career development for the residents while also creating a sustainable business model.
We will leverage technology appropriately to ensure the Ranch is operated as efficiently as possible without losing any personal touch. Better access to information will allow for better and faster decision-making. Efficiency will lead to better use of our donation and revenue dollars.
You Can Help
Make a Difference
You have either experienced serious adversity in your childhood, or you know someone that has. The impacts are far-reaching.
But each of us can make a difference.
It just takes one person to break the cycle in a family. It is our goal to help break those cycles - one child at a time. You can be a part of that. Whether you’re able to offer talent, financial resources or a commitment to support us in prayer, we need all of the above. Click the links below to see how you can make a difference.