Ranch Ehrlo Society CEO Andrea Brittin has announced her plans to retire. Andrea Brittin Effective December 31, 2020, Andrea will be stepping away from her position, which assumed in July 2014. “The past six years with Ranch Ehrlo Society have been incredible - some of the most fulfilling years of my entire career. I will truly miss the amazing team here at the Ranch. Their…
Youth at Kruzeniski House recently were real-life superheroes to an injured gopher. Staff and youth were out for an evening walk when a staff nearly stepped on a baby animal on the sidewalk. “Without hesitation, the youth we were with got down and immediately tried to help the baby animal,” recalled youth care worker Katelyn Crawford, who was one of the staff on the walk. The…
While many of our group homes have the end goal of reunifying a youth with their family at the conclusion of treatment, Matheson House, located in Prince Albert, is geared toward helping older youth transition to independent living. Trent* is one of those participants. Trent, 18, made the brave choice to stay in care and work toward his goals – one of which was recently achieved when he…
Ranch Ehrlo Society’s annual powwow, typically slated for the end of August, will not be going ahead for the 2020 year. Due to rules around gathering sizes and the rapidly changing situation with COVID-19, we have decided it is in our best interest to hold off on hosting the event this year. We are saddened as it has become an event that we look forward to each year, but the safety of our…
You can do whatever you put your mind to. That’s the message recently hired multiple program worker (MPW) Dustin Molleken has for the youth he works with. An MPW is an employee in our residential programs who cover off shifts in the different houses. Dustin (courtesy of mlb.com) Dustin spent 18 years as a professional baseball player, playing all over the world. He came up through…
At Ranch Ehrlo, we are continuously searching for ways to improve. Our Quality Improvement team is always looking at participant experience through surveys and statistics related to the effectiveness of our programs. This year, with the implementation of Children And Residential Experience (CARE), we have added a new layer of accountability. In the fall of 2019, each of our programs set…
A connection to culture helps create resilience. While everyone has their own reasons for needing to develop resilience, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust us all into similar territory. It could be argued that clinical caseworker Julie Francella’s cultural work with agency youth is more important than ever. Julie ( pictured above with her art hanging at Schaller) …
When gatherings over 10 people became impossible, we knew we couldn’t hold our annual 3-mile race – at least not in the way we have been for over 50 years now. But the spirit of our agency – putting participants first - shone through as we came together to find a way to adapt the event to ensure our youth could still experience it. Jewison House training Started over 50…
While many of us are tucked safely in our own homes, staff at Ranch Ehrlo’s Family Treatment Program (FTP) and Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS) continue to serve those in need. For some of the families in the programs, this means Skype or Facetime check-ins, or therapists coming by and talking over the phone from outside a window. These are the families who are at lower…
When things in her house started to seem “a little sad” during the COVID-19 lockdown, 9-year-old Taylor decided to take matters into her own hands and cheer up her family with a surprise party. She summed up her event very simply. “Well, I got donuts for my family and put balloons up that had kind messages in them.” Ordering and paying for donuts for her entire family,…
Waiting can be hard. When youth first arrive at Ranch Ehrlo and begin the treatment process, progress can be slow. Goals can seem so unattainable, and home can seem so far away. With the current state of society, all of us are being forced into a stage of waiting; waiting to see loved ones again, waiting to frequent our favourite shops, gyms, or hairdresser. Although it is…
At Ranch Ehrlo, our first priority will always be safety – employee, participant, client, and stakeholder. To that end, in response to the current COVID-19 situation, we have adopted an in-depth pandemic policy and plan to guide us in this unprecedented time. The plan is a combined effort of our senior leaders, with input from various levels of the agency. We have also taken…
As social distancing measures have been put in place, our youth and staff have continually found creative ways to maintain their physical distance without sacrificing emotional connections. The most recent initiative, started by Dalla-Vincenza House, is a pay-it-forward box that has been making its rounds throughout our homes in the southern programs. Youth care leader Victoria Chupa came up…
Thanks to a distillery located in Brownlee, SK, Ranch Ehrlo has been provided with hand sanitizer to help keep our programs safe. With sanitizer hard to find in stores, many distilleries in the province have been changing their process in order to make hand sanitizer for essential frontline workers, which our employees fall into the category of. However, many were only providing the product to…
Children all over the country are out of school for the foreseeable future, meaning a lot more time at home! This includes Ranch Ehrlo’s Treatment Foster Care (TFC) program, a specialized, accredited foster care program for children with complex needs who respond best in a family setting. TFC parents Brittanie and Sam Park, who have two biological children and are fostering one through the…
