“Ranch Ehrlo…that’s the place that helps kids, right?”

This is a question that I am asked often when I tell people where I work.

When I hear that comment I generally respond with a simple “yes, that’s us” but what I really want to say is “yes, but we do so much more”.

Unfortunately, it takes more than a sentence and a deep breath to explain just what we do at the Ranch.

It’s difficult to explain everything that we do because we do so much. There is no easy way to explain that while we help youth overcome substance abuse issues we also rebuild families and teach people with developmental disabilities how to take the bus. We provide affordable housing to single mothers, give kids the opportunity to play free outdoor hockey, all the while providing child care to families in Regina, and educating youth in our specialized school programs.

It’s difficult to explain that we have over 800 staff, but many like me don’t work exclusively with youth. A large percentage do work in group homes, but hundreds of others work in offices, classrooms, private homes, and some even work in a horse riding arena.

The simplest way to explain what we do is to turn people to our website and to our promotional video (below) that depicts it all. Even when you see the images, read the words, and hear the narrative, it is still difficult comprehend all that we do.

We’re so much more than a place that “helps kids”.