2021 was a rollercoaster of a year with many ups and downs. At HOPE Ranch we had challenges we never could have anticipated with both human and animal health challenges. Kit experienced a serious injury due to the rigors of life on a ranch. We almost lost Sadie, our therapy dog, and our hearts were broken when our beloved D’Angela passed away. That was rough. But we also had several ups. Sadie recovered. Kit is on the mend. Plus, with the help of donations, we were able to finish construction on the Round Pen, which allows us to expand our services and therapy areas, which was desperately needed.

As 2021 wraps up and we look to 2022 we anticipate serving close to 100 clients. We hold 35+ sessions a week and most individuals become long-term clients due to their severe needs. Our clientele is mostly women and children with mental health challenges. In addition, they may have physical and developmental disabilities, ADHD, or autism spectrum disorder, and unique medical issues.

Here’s a recap of the rollercoaster ride of 2021.

2021:  THE DOWNS

• Covid19 is still here, but we are meeting the challenges. Many of our clients have had an extra hard time with Covid restrictions and concerns thus increasing their mental health challenges.
• Kit had some serious health issues but she is on the mend and looking forward to helping more people as she regains her strength and hires more staff.
• Sadie, our therapy dog, also had a rough summer of health issues. She is back to herself now and looks forward to working with each and every client and guest that comes to the ranch.
• D’Angela passed away. Kit’s first horse, she raised and trained her from an 18-month-old. Together they won the Mid-America Paso Fino Trail Horse Championship (taking 1st place in 4 of the 5-class series) when D’Angela was just 3 years old. It was the first time in a show for both of them. The judges all commented on the bond they had even then. Together they taught many children and a few adults how to ride, often after spending many hours working on the ground to help them work through their fear of horses. D’Angela was always gentle and kind and took care of her rider. She will be greatly missed.

2021: THE UPS!

• The Round Pen was constructed, paid for, and is now in use. THANK YOU to the many people that supported this project. The clients and the horses love this new space for therapy and for exercise.
• We now have more space to work with individuals, families, and groups with the horses in ways we cannot in a rectangular pen. Working with the horses in this setting empowers clients and they overcome their feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness.
• The round pen is used as a training tool for the horses to keep them ready for work with our clients, and to expand our space for Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning within our psychotherapy program.
• The new space will allow us to add 25-35% more clients (12-21 more individuals, impacting 120-210 people). We can now work with more families and larger groups of clients in family and group therapy, providing more services to more people at one time.
• Some of our clients do benefit, because of their mental health and/or medical issues, from mounted activities (with horse being led by an equine specialist and client assisted with side-walkers). These clients experience improved balance, improved communication between the hemispheres of their brain, improved affect regulation and ability to self-soothe, and improved self-esteem and self-confidence. The Round Pen offers these added services.

LOOKING AHEAD…

Approximately 25% of our clients receive Medical Assistance and fall into the low-income category and cannot pay for services nor does their insurance reimburse us fully. COVID19 has increased the demand for our services but not the reimbursement. We are getting more requests for funding assistance through scholarship requests. We need to help these individuals who are struggling with severe mental health crises, but we also need funding to make this happen.

We are hopeful that as our ranch grows so does the support from you, our donors. You help us reach our goals as a Board and an organization, and in turn, help others reach their goal of good mental health. We sincerely ask for your financial support between now and year-end as we continue our progress for 2021 and end the year on a “UP” note and continue to RAISE HOPE for those in need.

Please consider using one of 3 easy ways to donate today:

1. Donate online

2. Call the Foundation office at 507-281-3033 to donate by phone

3. Mail a check made out to:

HOPE Ranch Foundation, 9145 80th Ave SE, Suite B, Chatfield, MN 55923

Yes -we had ups and downs in 2021 but with support from our friends and supporters, we survived.

Warm Regards,

Matt Nigbur – President HOPE RANCH FOUNDATION Executive Director,

and Kit Muellner – CEO, Founder

GIVE TO THE MAX IS HERE! Starting November 1 all donations are counted towards the Give to the Max Campaign and we have a matching donor, so your donations go further.  We’ve had a roller coaster of a year with many ups and downs. So many people stepped up to help and we thank you.  

We have big plans in place moving forward so we can continue to help with the tremendous need for mental health services in SE MN.  

THE DOWNS

• Covid19 is still here, but we are meeting the challenges. Many of our clients have had an extra hard time with Covid restrictions and concerns thus increasing their mental health challenges.
• Kit had some serious health issues but she is on the mend and looking forward to helping more people as she regains her strength and hires more staff.
• Sadie, our therapy dog, also had a rough summer of health issues. She is back to herself now and looks forward to working with each and every client and guest that comes to the ranch.
• D’Angela passed away. Kit’s first horse, she raised and trained her from an 18-month-old. Together they won the Mid-America Paso Fino Trail Horse Championship (taking 1st place in 4 of the 5-class series) when D’Angela was just 3 years old. It was the first time in a show for both of them. The judges all commented on the bond they had even then. Together they taught many children and a few adults how to ride, often after spending many hours working on the ground to help them work through their fear of horses. D’Angela was always gentle and kind and took care of her rider. She will be greatly missed.

THE UPS!

• The Round Pen was constructed, paid for, and is now in use. THANK YOU to the many people that supported this project. The clients and the horses love this new space for therapy and for exercise.
• We now have more space to work with individuals, families, and groups with the horses in ways we cannot in a rectangular pen. Working with the horses in this setting empowers clients and they overcome their feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness.
• The round pen is used as a training tool for the horses to keep them ready for work with our clients, and to expand our space for Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning within our psychotherapy program.
• The new space will allow us to add 25-35% more clients (12-21 more individuals, impacting 120-210 people). We can now work with more families and larger groups of clients in family and group therapy, providing more services to more people at one time.
• Some of our clients do benefit, because of their mental health and/or medical issues, from mounted activities (with horse being led by an equine specialist and client assisted with side-walkers). These clients experience improved balance, improved communication between the hemispheres of their brain, improved affect regulation and ability to self-soothe, and improved self-esteem and self-confidence. The Round Pen offers these added services.

LOOKING AHEAD…

Approximately 25% of our clients receive Medical Assistance and fall into the low-income category and cannot pay for services nor does their insurance reimburse us fully. COVID19 has increased the demand for our services but not the reimbursement. We are getting more requests for funding assistance through scholarship requests. We need to help these individuals who are struggling with severe mental health crises, but we also need funding to make this happen.

As 2021 wraps up and we look to 2022 we anticipate serving close to 100 clients. We hold 35+ sessions a week and most individuals become long-term clients due to their severe needs. Our clientele is mostly women and children with mental health challenges. In addition, they may have physical and developmental disabilities, ADHD or autism spectrum disorder, and unique medical issues.

We are hopeful that as our ranch grows so does the support from you, our donors. You help us reach our goals as a Board and an organization, and in turn, help others reach their goal of good mental health. We sincerely ask for your financial support between now and year-end as we continue our progress for 2021 and end the year on a “UP” note and continue to RAISE HOPE for those in need.

Please consider using one of 3 easy ways to donate today:

1. Donate online at http://hoperanchteam.com/hope-ranch-foundation/

2. Call the Foundation office at 507-281-3033 to donate by phone

3. Use the enclosed envelope and mail a check made out to:

HOPE Ranch Foundation, 9145 80th Ave SE, Suite B, Chatfield, MN 55923

Warm Regards,

Matt Nigbur Kit Muellner

President HOPE RANCH FOUNDATION Executive Director, CEO, Founder

It is with a broken heart that I share the news of the passing of our beloved D’Angela. 

She had a strangulating lipoma, which attached itself to her intestine & killed it.  She was in a great deal of pain and the only thing to do for her was to humanely euthanize her.  She is buried here on the ranch out in the pasture.

D’Angela & I have been a team for 26 & ½ years since she was 18 months old. When she first came to me, she was so head shy it took 3 months just to get her to trust me enough to let me put a halter on her easily.  Together we went to many horse-training clinics and spent countless hours learning together.  By the time I had “finished” (you’re never really done) training her, I rode her bareback without bridle/halter/reins of any kind.  D’Angela was an amazing horse. She saved my life at least three times out on the trails. Together we won the Mid-America Paso Fino Trail Horse Championship (taking 1st place in 4 of the 5-class series) when she was just 3 years old.  It was the first time in a show for both of us.  The judges all commented on the bond we had even then. Together we taught many children and a few adults how to ride, often after spending many hours working on the ground to help them work through their fear of horses.  She was always gentle and kind and took care of her rider.

D’Angela helped countless children, youth, families, adults, and corporate groups in her role as a HOPE Ranch therapy horse.  She was a special soul who touched, and healed, the lives of many people.  She loved being a Mom and raised two of her own foals, and raised our therapy horse, Red Hawk, from 6 months after he had to be weaned from his momma early.

Words cannot express how much I appreciate your kind words and support as we all process and work through this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Kit Muellner
Clinical Director & CEO
HOPE Ranch

Restrictions are loosening up and people are getting vaccinated. This means a return to being out in the public and socializing. Do we even remember how to socialize? Even during “normal” times, socializing can be tough but after months and months of isolation, it may seem overwhelming. 

You may be feeling a bit rusty but remember, we are all in the same boat. NPR recently released an article with thoughts and tips about this very subject. NPR: Do we even know how to socialize anymore?

Winter has brought not only cold and snow but an increase in mental health deterioration for many people. 
We continue to help as many people as we can, via animal-assisted psychotherapy, to find light and life each day. Even when the vaccines reach everyone, there will still be so much work to get people back to emotional stability. Your dollars give us H.O.P.E. that we will get there together.

Growing to Meet Your Needs

We are in the middle of a campaign to RAISE H.O.P.E. with an end goal of putting up a Round Pen at our facility. The Round Pen is a training tool that will build on our success with equine-assisted therapy. The Round Pen will allow us to increase the number of clients served while decreasing their symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, bipolar and ADHD. This space will also serve as an area to work with Veterans, Law Enforcement, and other First Responders.

We Need Your Help

Could you give today? $50, $100, $150 would make a huge difference and enable H.O.P.E Ranch to: 

• Build The Round Pen on the farm, where clients and horses will work together as crucial therapy partners.

• Add more Equine Specialists to reach more people and increase our impact. 

• Enable the H.O.P.E Ranch Foundation to provide in-depth services to support healing on our ranch southeast of Rochester

Donate Today! 

Your financial donation is needed now to make an impact yet this spring. We still need $10,000 to make The Round Pen a reality. Your tax-deductible contribution will bring H.O.P.E to many in need of life-saving psychotherapy in our communities.

Please consider using one of these three easy ways to donate today:

1. Online at http://hoperanchteam.com/hope-ranch-foundation/.

2. Call the Foundation office at 507-281-3033 to donate by phone.

 3. Mail a check to:
H.O.P.E. Ranch Foundation,
9145 80th Ave SE, Suite B
Chatfield, MN 55923

Feel free to reach out to us directly at 507-281-3033 with any questions. 

Please donate TODAY to help fulfill our urgent need to expand community mental health.
 

Warm Regards,

Cheryl Kliewer, President of H.O.P.E. Ranch Foundation
Kit Muellner, CEO & Founder of H.O.P.E. Ranch

Did you know that you can designate HOPE Ranch as your charity when you shop on Amazon this holiday season? It doesn’t cost you a penny and it helps us out so much! It’s called Amazon Smiles and it’s really quite simple.

Here’s how it works: Simply go to smile.amazon.com and designate HOPE Ranch Foundation as your charity.