OUR PROGRAM
We believe that every child is powerful and full of potential. In the child of trauma, their strengths may be difficult to see due to the negative behaviors that they developed while surviving hurts that they sustained early in life. We are a trauma-informed private placement children’s home for boys and girls who have been abused, neglected, abandoned, rejected, or are otherwise struggling with the impact of their traumatic experiences. These children are often struggling with negative behaviors, rebellion, academic issues, and dysfunctional attachments. We provide the 24-hour supervision, high structure, and low relational pressure that the children of trauma need in order to thrive. We utilize the TBRI model of parenting with focus on faithfully meeting the needs behind behaviors. We provide consistency in responding to behaviors with correction based on Christian values while making the world small for the children in a comfortable, residential farmstead setting. We focus on restoring children, rebuilding familial relationships, educational excellence, spiritual growth, and a healthy lifestyle with an abundance of recreation.
Who We Serve My Father’s Arrows provides a safe, stable, and nurturing home for children who are experiencing family crisis, loss, instability, or significant life challenges. Many of the children entrusted to our care come from situations where their family is facing circumstances that temporarily prevent them from providing the structure and support a child needs. In other cases, children may be under the care of a legal guardian who is seeking a safe, loving environment while long-term plans are developed for their future. A significant number of the children we serve have experienced trauma, loss of parents or family members, neglect, foster care placement, disrupted attachments, or adoption-related challenges. Some have struggled to adjust to traditional family settings, while others have been impacted by family crises such as illness, divorce, financial hardship, or the loss of a parent or caregiver. Our goal is not simply to address behaviors, but to understand the underlying hurts and unmet needs that often drive them. At My Father’s Arrows, we focus on healing, stability, and restoration. We work to help children build trust, develop healthy relationships, and gain the confidence and security they need to thrive. Whenever possible, we seek to strengthen and restore family relationships so that children can ultimately return to safe, healthy, and supportive family environments. Trauma-Informed Care Every member of our team is carefully screened, background-checked, fingerprinted, and trained in trauma-informed care. Our staff understand that many children who have experienced significant adversity struggle with trust, emotional regulation, attachment, and feelings of safety. We utilize Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) principles throughout our program. This relationship-centered approach emphasizes connection, consistency, trust, and meeting children’s physical and emotional needs in healthy ways. By creating a predictable and caring environment, children are given the opportunity to experience the safety and stability that may have been missing from their lives. Our approach is rooted in the belief that meaningful behavioral change occurs when a child’s emotional wounds are addressed and healing takes place at the heart level. Rather than focusing solely on outward behaviors, we seek to understand each child’s experiences and help them develop healthier ways of relating to others and responding to life’s challenges. Education and Academic Support My Father’s Arrows operates an on-site, trauma-informed private school designed specifically for children who may have struggled in traditional educational settings. Many students arrive academically behind, with learning gaps, special educational needs, or negative experiences associated with school. Our individualized educational approach allows us to adapt instruction to each child’s unique learning style and developmental needs. Smaller class sizes, personalized attention, and flexible learning environments help students experience success and rebuild confidence in their academic abilities. Children are encouraged to learn in ways that best support their growth, whether through hands-on activities, movement-based learning, individualized instruction, or alternative teaching methods. As students gain confidence and begin experiencing academic success, they often develop a more positive attitude toward learning and a stronger belief in their own potential. Building Trust and Connection Many of the children who come to My Father’s Arrows have experienced repeated disappointments from the adults in their lives. As a result, trust does not come easily. Beneath the challenges they may present, however, is often a deep desire for connection, belonging, and unconditional care. Through consistent relationships, compassionate guidance, and a family-style environment, we help children learn that trustworthy adults do exist and that healthy relationships are possible. Over time, children begin to develop the confidence, security, and emotional resilience needed to build a brighter future for themselves and their families. Situated on 288 rural acres, our program is for boys and girls from hard places, ranging in age from birth to 17. This property not only has our Children’s Home, but also a Farm and School for the children. Intuitively old fashioned, it is a safe place that brings comfort and makes everyone feel welcome. Our goal is to provide healing, stability, sanctuary, restoration, and the rebuilding of positive relationships and communication for the children and families we serve. We provide a nurturing, loving Christian home to vulnerable children until it is safe and healthy for them to restore them with their families, until they find their forever adoptive homes, or until they are ready for independence as equipped young adults. Our School We understand how hard it is for your child to learn with all the behavioral/emotional struggles that they have. At our year-round trauma-informed school, Veritas Mission Academy, we take the time to meet your child’s individual needs and learning style. Each child receives an entrance exam to evaluate where they are academically. We are able to work one on one with each of the children and help them succeed at their own pace. We are able to help them process their emotions when seat work becomes frustrating, allow them to take breaks to regroup, and provide them ability to move while learning. Our Ranch Our ranch/farm is another piece of our holistic, trauma-informed sanctuary. Not only does the farm produce healthy foods for our children, but it also provides a therapeutic environment where children thrive. In addition to the horticulture, we also have horses, goats, chickens, sheep, and our friendly service dog, Coco, that bring many smiles and comfort to the children with hurting hearts. We know that animals, sunshine, and a healthy garden can bring so much joy and comfort to children, and we love watching them grow in it. The Healing Process at My Father’s Arrows One of the most important things we help families understand is that many children who have experienced significant trauma do not fully understand what healthy family relationships look like or how to function within them. Often, it is not that a child is unwilling to be part of a family—it is that they currently lack the emotional skills, trust, security, and relational capacity necessary to participate in healthy family life. Trauma can profoundly affect a child’s ability to attach, trust, communicate, regulate emotions, and maintain healthy relationships. Before many children can successfully reconnect with their families, they must first experience personal healing and develop a stronger sense of safety, stability, and self-awareness. For this reason, the healing process at My Father’s Arrows begins by focusing on the child as an individual. Our goal is to help each child develop emotional regulation, healthy coping skills, personal responsibility, trust, and the ability to form secure relationships. As the child progresses, we gradually expand the focus to include family relationships and eventual reintegration. At the same time, we strongly encourage families to engage in their own healing journey. Trauma impacts entire families, not just the child. Parents and siblings often experience secondary trauma, chronic stress, anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion, strained relationships, and, in some cases, marital challenges. Family members may also bring unresolved wounds from their own childhood experiences into their relationships with the child. Because lasting success requires healing on both sides of the relationship, we ask families to establish ongoing therapeutic support within their local community. This may include individual counseling for parents and siblings, marriage counseling when appropriate, and family counseling services that can continue before, during, and after the child’s stay with us. The therapeutic process at My Father’s Arrows typically progresses through several stages: 1. Therapeutic Engagement and Group Therapy – The child begins building trust, learning program expectations, and participating in therapeutic group activities. 2. Individual and Group Therapy – As trust and readiness increase, the child engages in deeper individual therapeutic work while continuing group-based healing and skill development. 3. Family Therapy – Once the child has achieved sufficient personal growth and emotional stability, family counseling begins to address relational wounds, communication patterns, trust issues, and reconciliation. 4. Transition and Reintegration Planning – As the family moves toward reunification, we work together to develop practical plans, establish healthy boundaries, strengthen parenting strategies, and prepare both the child and family for long-term success at home. Because every child and family enters the program with unique circumstances, we do not follow a rigid visitation schedule. Decisions regarding visitation, communication, and family involvement are individualized and based upon the child’s progress, emotional readiness, safety considerations, and the overall healing process of the family. Our ultimate goal is not simply to help a child behave better. Our mission is to help restore children and families by creating the conditions necessary for lasting healing, healthy relationships, and successful reintegration into family life. To Partents and Legal Guardians Who are Struggling We know that this is not the way you thought your adoption would turn out. You felt a calling to adopt a child. You spent so much time investigating the process, going to the classes, navigating the paperwork and praying over your future son or daughter. You couldn’t wait to be a parent! You wanted to rescue your child from a hard situation. When you were finally able to bring your precious child home you were so excited! Your family had grown, and you looked forward to getting to know each other and making many wonderful memories. Sadly, you may not have not been told everything about your child and their struggles, or you didn’t feel as prepared as you needed to be to handle their trauma related behaviors…your child’s heart was deeply hurt early in his or her life, and they struggle to trust grownups. So many losses… Things may have gone smoothly at first, your child seemed to be loving, charming, and engaged towards you. Over some time, your child’s behaviors started to escalate as they began to push you away when they felt too close to you and things seemed too calm. Your son or daughter demonstrated negative behaviors as an effort to not love or trust you, because all the other grownups in their lives had let them down. It didn’t matter if you explain that you are their forever parents—- the actions associated with that word have not been safe in the past. Mamas are typically the main target and daddies often don’t understand why mama is having such a hard time getting along with their new, long awaited son or daughter. We know that it is really hard to understand a child that had to live with inconsistent caregivers, general instability, hunger, pain, rejection, and neglect in their early childhood. Parents can feel so defeated and ill equipped to handle the behaviors that developed as a result of trauma. We Are Here to Help During your child’s time in our program, they will be working on developing:
