October Rancher of the Month

This is April*. She comes to us from a home in the southern United States by way of her family ranch in Nebraska. April is an outdoors kind of girl who loves animals, bugs, snakes, dirt, rocks and anything else from nature. She is a kind and gentle person who needs lots of hugs--on her own terms only--and understanding from her house parent and friends.

April likes to collect things and has, in the past, hidden her collection quite cleverly. Recently, however, she has created a display in her room of the things she has collected and is very pleased with the outcome. Her house parent is very pleased as well.

April is extremely creative. She makes up songs on the spur of the moment and has an amazing sense of color and design. In our fiber workshop, she makes hand made felt and blends surprising colors together that make for beautiful patterns. She also quite accomplished at needle work of any kind.

She likes to work in the garden and will work from begininning to end at any task she is set to. Pulling weeds is her summer project and she enjoys being responsible for keeping the flower beds around her house clean.

April is happiest when she can walk out on the Ranch and talk to the animals in the pastures. They come to her readily because she is so gentle with them and has a special ability to calm them and earn their trust. We call her "The Goat Whisperer."
April is good company. She likes to talk and joke while riding along to appointments and shopping. She doesn't ask for much and is very easy to please, which makes her even easier to spend time with. Mostly, April wants friends and caregivers that will take the time to earn her trust and will stay in her life a long time.

We're pleased to call April our friend. She is absolutely...

...bursting with abilities, capabilities and possibilities!!!

**Triangle Cross Ranch does not use Ranchers' real names in our public posts.

What NORMAL looks like...

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.