Animal therapy for youth struggling with mental health challenges.

We dream of providing animal therapy to help youth struggling with mental health challenges at our farm in Burnsville, NC, in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Among the incredible beauty of the Appalachians lies a large population of youth dealing with drug and depression issues. We have seen firsthand how animals heal. While volunteering at a center, we saw a child with autism who wouldn’t talk, and once he was placed on a horse, he could not stop talking. It was amazing to witness.

We plan to open the facility by the summer of 2024. We will start providing therapy for children ages 11-18. Too often, children with mental illness cannot attend animal therapy centers because many don’t have provisions for behavioral health issues. We want to change that and ensure they can access animal therapy like many other youth. Our focus will be on children facing the problems of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and drug addiction. 

Animals have such a healing effect. We want to provide that to children dealing with these challenges. Along with animal therapy, we want to teach children about nutrition, organic gardening, and regenerative farming. Diet plays an integral role in our lives; nutrition is a huge part of healing our bodies mentally and physically. Regenerative agriculture heals the land and allows food to be grown naturally without chemicals. Regenerative farming places more nutrients in the soil than are made available through the plants we eat. Study after study shows us the healing aspect of nature and diet, so we believe multiple therapies should be involved. This will include touring the garden, helping kids plant seeds, and caring for those seeds as they become plants. The child can take some home once the plant grows and bears fruit. We will also focus on farming animals like sheep, goats, and cows with rotational grazing and educating about natural fertilizers and how to use them in the garden.

We are making this a reality, and it will take a lot of time and money. Please visit our donation page to give.

Thank you for all of your support.

To learn more about the benefits of animal therapy, visit our blog post

Please also see https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/animal-therapy#benefits.