Ground Breaking for New Home, Beebe Hall
03/07/2024
On March 4th the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce held a groundbreaking ceremony for Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches’ new home, Beebe Hall.
Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches is celebrating a project to construct a new home on its Batesville campus. Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches has a long history of caring for children. Founded by the Sheriffs of Arkansas in 1976, ASYR has provided hope and healing for more than 2,300 boys and girls from every corner of the state who has needed a place to call home. Our mission is to address, remedy, and prevent child abuse and neglect by creating safe, healthy homes for children.
“It has been my privilege to lead the Ranch for the last decade,” said ASYR CEO Nancy Fulton. “Throughout these years, I have seen countless children whose lives have been transformed simply by having a safe, loving, and nurturing place to call home. Our staff and houseparents are dedicated to providing the best life possible for the children who come to live with us. We are so grateful to be able to build this new home where many more children can build a brighter future for themselves.”
At the ground breaking Nancy said, “Once I realized the time was right to build a new home, I talked to Ray Dillon our board president about doing this in a few years, and he replied, ‘What about this year?’ And so that’s what we’ve done.”
“It was an easy decision when Nancy approached us because of the staff we have here.” said Ray Dillon, President of the ASYR Board of Trustees. “It was a blink of an eye to make the decision to move forward with the new home.”
Mr. Dillon expressed gratitude to both the members of the ASYR’s capital campaign committee as well as the donors to the Ranch. “We are thrilled that so many have generously supported the Ranch to help us build a new home. Since we don’t charge families anything for our services, and we are 100% privately funded, we would not have been able to undertake a million-dollar project like this without the generosity of our friends throughout the state and the diligent work of the volunteers on our committee who raised funds for this new home.”
Capital Campaign committee members Micah Beard (Citizens Bank) Boris Dover (First Community Bank), Larry Stone (Stone Ward) and Sheriff Phillip Miller (White County) were recognized, among others. With the many generous donations to the campaign, the $1 million goal was achieved, which includes a $200,000 challenge grant from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation.
The new home will be named Beebe Hall in honor of Former Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, in recognition of his nearly 30 years of service as a volunteer and advocate for the organization.
Governor Beebe, who was present for the groundbreaking said, “The Ranch has been a force for good in the lives of Arkansas children for nearly 50 years. Many children have come to the Ranch from homes broken by abuse and neglect. The Ranch gives them an opportunity to thrive in a safe and stable home with houseparents who treat them like family. I am honored to be a part of creating a new home where many more children will find a place to call home in the years to come.”
Governor Beebe praised Batesville, saying, “Your support for the Ranch and the symbiotic relationship between the Ranch and Batesville is superlative.” He continued by thanking the Sheriffs for “picking up the torch” and commended them for carrying on the legacy of the Ranch’s founding sheriffs.
Shovel Holders at the ground breaking included Former Arkansas Governor Mike Bebee, Ray Dillon (President of the ASYR Board of Trustees), Larry Stone (ASYR Board, Stone Ward), Micah Beard (ASYR Board, Citizens Bank), Boris Dover (First Community Bank), Greg Hartz (Foundation Resource Management), Patrick Schueck (Lexicon), Judge Kevin Jeffrey (Independence County), Sheriff Phillip Miller (ASYR Board, White County), Sheriff Shawn Stephens (ASYR Board, Independence County), Sheriff Phil Reynolds (ASYR Board, Woodruff County), Josh Stewart (StewArch Architecture), Nancy Fulton (ASYR CEO), Philip Ives (ASYR), Matthew Cleveland (ASYR) and Courteney Muse (BACC).
Other major donors to the new home and ASYR staff attended the groundbreaking along with the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, including Aaron Moody (Independence County Sheriff’s Department), Amy Finster (White River Health), Andrea Bruner (Network of Community Options), Brenda Rivera (First Community Bank), Ashley Engles (Citizens Bank), Cassidy Mitchell (Lyon College), Christina Watts (LaCroix Precision Optics), Eva Henriksen (Merchants & Planters Bank), Kendra Collier-McMahan (Approve Home Health and Caring Hands), Kirsten Harvey (Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches), Lori Tacker (Batesville Eye Care Center), Mary Duvall (Bad Boy, Inc), Michael Kelley (Peco Foods), Rickie Westbrook (Centennial Bank), Roxanne Rananudo (United Way of North Central AR), Sarah Perkins (Mossy Oak Properties), Seanna Horn (Lyon College), Tammy Jeffrey (First Community Bank), and Julie Hinkle (Bank of Cave City).
With construction of our new home now underway, ASYR will be looking for the right houseparents to care for our boys and girls. Share a link to this job opening with anyone who you think might make a great houseparent: https://www.youthranches.com/contact/employment/
We are also continuing to raise funds to operate and outfit Beebe Hall with everything it takes to make a house a home, from furniture to cookware, from linens to a stocked pantry. Will you join us today with a special gift to support our new home? Click here to give today!
