(the Best of) A Year of Being Kind, Friday, July 31, 2015
I attended New Wilmington Mission Conference in Pennsylvania again this year, just a week ago. My friends Kathleen and Roger were there, too, with their sons! I wanted to feature Kathleen and Roger’s ranch, Jeremiah’s Crossing, again. A #BestOf, for sure! Yes, the mission conference featured missionaries and mission agencies from far flung places! From all over the world! Yet, the outreach that Kathleen and Roger are involved in is right in Wisconsin. Their ranch specializes in equine therapy—where horses help kids! This kind of special needs outreach is moving, heart-warming, and super-special, as are Kathleen and Roger. So, it is with great affection and appreciation that I reprise this post from July 2014.
A Year of Being Kind blog – Friday, July 25, 2014
Helping, with Horses! (Feature Friday!)
Ever see horses up close? Ever want to help kids? How about combining the two, at a welcoming place where horses help kids?
My friends, Kathleen and Roger Harris, are executive directors for Jeremiah’s Crossing, a nonprofit therapeutic horseback-riding ranch. This ranch is located in Babcock, in central Wisconsin. The nonprofit’s purpose is to help horses help children—and adults—who have diagnosed physical, mental, cognitive, and academic special needs. The best part? There is no cost for the therapy to the children or the adults.
The overall cost of caring for children and adults with special needs can be significant. The staff and those associated with Jeremiah’s Crossing do not wish to add to the financial burden of those families with members and loved ones who have special needs or disabilities. That is why “God’s ranch” provides Equine Assisted Activities (EAA) and lessons, for both children and adults, at no cost to the participants.
Kathleen and Roger Harris were married in 1995, and their children made a blended family from the beginning. They started the ranch in 2006. But even before that, they were gradually being led in the direction of helping kids, through a variety of activities. New Wilmington Mission Conference played a leading role in the Harris’s discernment and progress towards opening Jeremiah’s Crossing. The equine therapy part became more clear as God led them, too. Now, the ranch is a warm, welcoming place to everyone in families with disabled or differently-abled members.
The equine therapy is beneficial (to the persons with a diagnosed disability) in so many ways. First, the therapy gives people a positive nurturing activity that urges them to get into a regularly-scheduled routine. (to work on a regular basis with the trainer in their own therapy sessions, and in the training.) Second, horseback-riding allows for regular exercise and strengthening of their muscles. A bonus here is the assistance the riding provides for the balance center in the inner ear. And, God uses the horses in their riders’ lives in a variety of ways, including creating a friendship between the disabled person and the horse. This helps model relationship-building for the disabled people (especially the children).
The lessons are led by a PATH International Certified Instructor. The number of volunteer team members who accompany the individual riders depends on the needs and abilities of the various riders. The lesson content varies! The instructor plans each lesson on an individual basis, and volunteer side walkers come alongside of the rider and encourage appropriate posture as best suits the individual. Proper grooming, outfitting and care for the horses is modeled, as well. Everyone joins together in facilitating a positive, therapeutic experience for every individual who rides and cares for the horses.
As Kathleen Harris says, God has provided a beautiful place in Jeremiah’s Crossing as part of God’s plan to heal children and their families. Healing happens in a variety of ways—“God’s ranch” is one place where horses truly help to heal—physically, emotionally, mentally, as well as spiritually. Thank God!
(For more information, check out their website at http://www.jeremiahscrossing.org )
Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.
(Suggestion: visit me at my daily blog for 2015: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. @chaplaineliza And read #40acts sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er – Thanks!)
(also published at ayearofbeingkind.wordpress.com
A Year of Being Kind 