Cattle Program Makes BIG Difference in Rancher’s Life
09/06/2016

Chris is literally the poster child for the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches’ cattle program. Chris was placed at the Ranch four years ago after his mother was charged with drug abuse. Chris, who was 14 at the time, was headed down the same path as his mother. He had joined a local gang and had begun using drugs himself.

At the Ranch, Chris got involved with our educational cattle program. He heard about our plans to raise a registered Hereford herd, so he began reading Hereford World magazine and studying the bloodlines of the cows. He helped our Program Director Philip Ives and Farm Manager Jake Holder select the Ranches’ first cows for the new program.

Chris trained with the cows for hours and began showing ASYR Herefords in cattle shows across the country. Chris’s bull won several Grand and Reserve Champion awards at these shows. He loved working with the cows and was proud to have played a part in helping the Ranch develop its new herd.

After living at the Ranch for two years, the judge in Chris’s hometown told him that his mother had passed a drug test. The judge gave Chris permission to leave the Ranch and move back in with his mother. Chris was faced with a very difficult decision for a 16-year-old.

Chris told the judge that if he moved back home with his mother, he feared that he would fall back in with the same group that had influenced him to abuse drugs. He thought he could wind up dropping out of school and following the same destructive path of others in his family.

Instead, Chris told the judge that he was doing very well at Ranch and he wanted to stay. He knew that if he continued to live with us at the Ranch he would graduate from high school in a couple of years and be able to attend college.

Chris is a senior this year, and when he graduates from high school in May, he plans to go to college and become a physical therapist. He knows our staff will do everything they can to help him keep his grades up and receive scholarships to attend college next fall. He knows that our independent living program is available to help him bridge the gap between living in a home with eight boys to getting out on his own. Because the Ranches are almost entirely funded by donations from friends like YOU, children like Chris are cared for from the time they are six years old until they are ready to venture out on their own at age 21.

YOUR support gives children like Chris that kind of stability. And with YOUR support, the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches can offer that same stability to many more children. In fact, over the last 40 years, more than 1,300 children from every corner of the state have called our Ranches home!

Click here to make a gift today.

Without YOU, children like Chris will continue in a cycle of abuse and neglect. But with a gift today, YOU can give a child hope and healing. YOUR gift is an investment in the lives of boys and girls like Chris. I can think of no better, more compassionate gift than investing in the lives of the children we serve. YOUR gift allows us to give even more children like Chris the stability of a safe, healthy, and loving place to call home.

A recurring monthly gift is an affordable way to make an even BIGGER impact in the lives of our children. A monthly Hope Builder gift allows you to spread out your contribution over an entire year. It’s a simple and secure way to support our boys and girls all year. Click here to set up your monthly Hope Builder gift today.

Thank you for believing in our mission to provide homes for Arkansas boys and girls. With YOUR gift, YOU are giving children like Chris a second chance at a better life!

If you like, you can designate your gift to the educational cattle program that changed Chris’s life. We have recently written about our immediate need to raise a new hay barn for this life-changing program. YOUR gift toward this need will help us store hay for our grass-fed Hereford cows during the harsh winter months. Just click here to become a “Barn Raiser” today!

How can I teach respect and responsibility?
04/23/2012

The Ranch recently held a contest to see what the children thought about respect and responsibility.  They were asked to write a short essay on how they can teach both.  Colten from Faith Hall won the contest; here are his ideas on teaching respect and responsibility:

Read more…

Jamey’s Testimony
11/17/2011

This year Jamey shared his story of triumph with those attending the 16^th Annual Children’s Award Dinner. Jamey’s life as a child was normal- he lived with both of his parents and was active in sports. But by age 10 his life took a turn. He was taken into custody by DHS after his father attempted suicide and from there his life was never the same. Read more…

A True Calling: Faith Hall
07/27/2011

Cheyenne Ingram, the houseparent at Faith Hall, has been with the Ranch for 28 years.  She and her husband of 34 years, Rick Ingram have dedicated their lives to what they call a true calling from God.  Cheyenne and Rick have two children of their own, Seth- 31 and Emily-22, who have grown up with the kids at the ranch and have become like brothers and sisters to everyone that lives there.   

In a typical day I get up at 7a.m. and start getting breakfast ready.  Around 9 a.m. the boys are all well fed and ready to start the day doing work crew.  At noon we all go back inside to clean up and eat a good lunch.  After work crew is over, my day usually progresses to going grocery shopping, doing laundry, or cleaning the house.  Dinner gets started at 6p.m. and its free time for the boys until bedtime. 

All the years I have been here there have been plenty of memories but one good memory that makes me laugh every time I think of it is one of a former resident.  He disliked doing the dishes chore, but one night in particular he made the kitchen look spotless.  After I had checked his work and went back to my own, one of the kids came to get me in order to show me something in the kitchen.  Read more…

Our Ranch Kids Rock!
07/21/2011

Shawndra (left) and Jamey (right)

At the end of the year the school hosts an award night for its students and two of our young people received acknowledgement for their achievements. Shawndra received the Academic Distinction Award from the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.  Jamey’s History Day team won first place at regionals for their project on Japanese Internment Camps and received a special honor for this at the awards ceremony.  At the state competition at the University of Central Arkansas their team came in at a close fourth place.

New Births
07/08/2011

One of the great joys of living on the Ranch with lots of animals is getting to see the baby animals.  Three of our horses recently gave birth to foals.  Everyone enjoys seeing them every day in the pasture and watching them take their first steps running.  These babies don’t have names yet but you can be sure the kids will have them picked out in no time.

An Opportunity To Do Things Right
04/12/2011

No longer on a downhill slope Chandler shares his story of triumph with attendees at the 2010 Children’s Award Dinner. Chandler expressed his trying times born to a 15 year old single mother in Wichita Falls, TX, a move to his Uncle Paul’s in Arkansas, a life changing transition to the Ranch and his aspirations for the future. The best days of his life were spent on the Ranch with horses, televisions, plenty of food and people who really cared. Click above to listen as Chandler tells about a second chance he was granted.