Dree Hogue of the 111 Project joined us as a guest speaker in our recent trauma training session. Watch and listen as she skillfully leads you through the challenges of serving kids from hard places.

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The need to help children and families cannot be ignored. The total estimated number of orphans worldwide is 140 Million! Children in foster care in the U.S. is 391,098. While statistics continually change, there are currently 5,971 children in the Oklahoma Foster Care System, 131 are in Creek County. (https://www.111project.org/oklahomastats/)

Child abuse, neglect, and abandonment are problems not only in our nation but in our state and county. The Ranch at Fireside is part of the solution to this problem. Partnering with parents, existing agencies, communities, and ministries - children and teens will be freed from the generational cycle of abuse and neglect. Statistics will be transformed into beautifully healed healthy lives. Working together, we can end the foster care crisis.

FYI:

• 60% of the children trafficked in the U.S. come from the foster system.
• 95% of adoptions start with foster care.
• 40 children in Creek County had to be placed without their siblings due to a lack of foster homes able to take sibling groups. (Spring 2021)

What is The Ranch at Fireside?

The Ranch is a foster care community dedicated to changing the lives of foster children. It is a place for foster families to call HOME. It's a community where foster parents will have the support and resources needed to provide safe, nurturing and loving care to foster children in state custody. Here, foster children will encounter hope, have a sense of belonging, and experience unconditional love. It is a community where the environment is conducive to reversing the effects of child trauma and bring healing and restoration. Working together, our nurturing community will inspire and equip each child to break the cycle of abuse and neglect, achieve their highest potential, and become beneficial citizens.

One of our main objectives is to keep sibling groups together; therefore, The Ranch provides affordable housing to those committed to fostering at least four children. These families will receive wrap-around support to help with individualized needs, including resources and services to ensure success for every family and child that comes to live on The Ranch.

Our vision is huge and currently under development. This long-awaited dream is coming to fruition with our first home serving children in need. Our second home, the Rambler House, currently being renovated will be a welcoming space where social workers can bring children awaiting placement or supervise parental visits. It will also serve as the ranch office and provide respite accommodations.

Our mission is to ensure that every foster child in The Ranch community experiences the hope, healing, and unconditional love of Jesus!

Progress

• The renovation of The Rambler House is underway. (Spring 2024)
• Two of the Ranch kiddos were adopted by the Ranch foster Mom. (Spring 2024)
• As of October 2023, The Ranch has served 13 children. Fostering 8 and providing respite care for 5.
• The old pond dock has been completely removed.
• A family donated a playground set for The Ranch home. (Aug. 2022)
• Our first foster family has moved in! (Aug. 14, 2022)
• County planning meetings are taking place and the land was surveyed to determine future home plots.
• Plans to build more homes are in the works.
• Open House for the first home gave people a greater understanding of The Ranch and its purpose. (Feb. 14, 2022)
• The process of locating a foster family has begun.
• The remodel on the first home is complete! (Feb. 2022)

Development Plans

Additional homes built as finances become available; extended playground and park area; a pavilion; a garden; new pond dock; campsites; a learning center; and expanded support services & programs that will help children grow academically, socially, spiritually, and emotionally.

An equestrian program, art therapy, and grandparent "cottages" are included in future programs and land development.

Become a Foster Family Living at The Ranch. Taking Applications Now!

We would be honored to have you consider being foster parents living on The Ranch at Fireside.

• Are you currently a certified traditional foster care family in the state of Oklahoma?
• Are you willing to bring at least 4 foster children out of the DHS foster system, and into your home?
• The Ranch at Fireside is NOT a foster care agency. The Ranch homes are Traditional and Kinship Foster Care homes not Therapeutic nor Specialized.

We will be happy to assist you in the application process. To get started, you fill out and send in the Residence Application Form. If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at 918.321.3833 or https://firesidekiefer.church/contact.

We know this is a big decision. But it is one worth considering...

Other Ways You Can Help

You may not be ready to live on The Ranch and foster four or more children; but there is always a need for a loving home to foster one or two. Or, you can get certified to help with emergency or respite care. There are multiple ways you can be involved to transform statistics into beautifully healed healthy lives.

Besides giving financially you can:

• Schedule a work day and give of your time.
• Purchase items needed for construction.
• Give In-kind gifts such as your companies goods or services.
• Spread the word!
• Pray!

Together let's build The Ranch and help stop the cycle of child abuse and neglect.

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Stay informed about the latest developments on this page. The Ranch website will be designed as our foster community continues to expand.

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Building Better Lives