N: Necessary to the community
In addition to being active participants in their own Ranch community, our Ranchers are an important part of their church community as well as local agencies where they volunteer and the Special Olympics team with which they participate. From weekly clean-up of the local town park to playing bingo with the elderly at an assisted living facility and even gleaning for the Weld County Food Bank, the Ranchers of TCR give back and do so often.
O: Oriented to daily life
Our Life Coaches live at the Ranch full-time. They invest time and attention, teaching the Ranchers to live as functional adults. Personal hygiene, doing laundry, completing chores, doing housework, going shopping and managing spending money are all responsibilities through which our Ranchers find success and begin to explore independence. While that level of independence is different for each individual, our Life Coaches are sensitive to their needs and abilities.
R: Realistic in Expectations
Expectations are a part of living. From the time we are born it seems that everyone in our life has expectations of how we are to act and react to the world around us. At Triangle Cross Ranch we expect failure, because we expect our Ranchers to try to do new things, to be bold and grow past the norm. We actually celebrate failure, remembering that it took Edison 10,000 tries before he created the light bulb. Nothing creates more self respect than perseverance and the resulting accomplishment.
M: Moral in Action
Do the right thing! A phrase used by many though not always grasped by those being taught. What does it look like? How do we fix it when we don’t do the right thing? Triangle Cross Ranch believes in a moral compass by the name of Jesus Christ and His actions are an example for our actions and how we treat others. Fairness, compassion, honesty, forgiveness and love are the values we strive for.
A: Ability beyond disabilities
Every person has their strengths and weaknesses. At TCR we like to “play to the strong side”, giving our Ranchers the opportunity to use all the resources available to succeed. Every disability is taken into consideration, sometimes we go around and sometimes we adapt but all the time we move forward.
L: Loved beyond measure
After food and water, a human’s greatest need is to be loved. Being liked for who we are, warts and all, is the longing of every human heart. Our self respect hinges on what others perceive us to be capable of doing and being. TCR likes to go out of its way to make both Staff and Ranchers feel loved and appreciated. Since we believe that every life has value, no matter the ability, love is unconditional, praise is loud and the laughter is contagious.
