Organizations like Believe in Me shine as beacons of hope in a world where the clamor for success often drowns out the whispers of personal growth and empathy. Grounded in a vision of empowering every child to embrace their potential, Believe in Me extends a helping hand to marginalized youth, offering them the opportunity to thrive in a nurturing environment. In this sanctuary, the majestic creatures of the equine world serve as catalysts for personal transformation. With Believe in Me’s support, The Place of Horses can continue its mission of providing life-changing experiences for young individuals, fostering empowerment, confidence, and empathy through the profound connection between humans and horses.

Walmarted has supported the kids who want to come here but money is too tight, for the last three years. We are so honored to be a part of their giving again this year. Walmart paid for 10 kids to be here for one month. Thank you!

Every September we get gravel and have a work party (or two!) and fill potholes and get the paddocks ready for winter. The horses won't be standing in mud thanks to The Bainbridge Rotary Club!

The Suquamish Tribe is committed to supporting non-profit programs that improve the lives of those living in Kitsap County and the greater Puget Sound Area. The Suquqmish Tribe has supported our youth here for the last two years, enabling them to attend when they otherwise would not have been able to afford it. They funded 20 kids this year. 

The Norcliffe Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life for all people in our community. They sure improved the life our our barn community- the youth, the horses AND a Daisy Mae, the cat. The Norcliffe Foundation's generous $8,000 grant paid for vet bills, hay, and grain, which allowed kids to be able to come here. 

We believe in giving “JUST ONE MORE” chance to people, inspiring hope to overcome obstacles; with hard work and determination, they will persevere to endure!

- Richard Rogers, Founder, Just One More Foundation 

The Just One More Foundation is dedicated to inspiring hope and providing opportunity for individuals who have experienced hardships and the organizations that serve them. 

The Just One More Foundation gave one more chance to kids for two months our here at the barn. They changed lives for the better. 

Walmart once again came to our rescue with a $500 donation to support the kids here from the Poulsbo area. They are helping 10 youth attend Ranch Hands!  

Chris Miller has been a long time supporter and friend of The Whole Horse Place, supporting the youth here with prizes and finances. This year, she made a beautiful quilt for Hazelwood, and donated the money to the kids here. 

The legacy of Gary and Carol lives on through the family members, including their three children, Cari, Lori and Mark and their grandchildren, Kasey, Kirby, Scott and Lindsay. Standing united by their values and shared interest, they are committed to honoring the legacy of their parents and their grandparents.

We ( Milgard Windows) feel fortunate that our staff has had a long standing history with the family, as many of them worked at Milgard Windows. They play an integral role supporting each of the foundations, their members, and the mission for the legacy.  As Gary and Carol often said, "It takes everybody pulling on the oar” to achieve a common goal.

 “It fills our hearts, our spirits, with a lot of love knowing that we can help people in this community.”
–Vice Chairwoman Sylvia Miller, speaking at the Charity Trust Board awards event in December 2022 

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians serves its members and community with generosity and is committed to building a sustainable way of life for future generations.

As one of the most urban tribes in the United States, the Puyallup Tribe is committed to being a good neighbor. It is consistently one of the top 10 employers in Pierce County, it fights to protect the environment, its economic development projects create jobs, and it donates millions of dollars each year to charitable organizations through its Charity Trust Board and through donations made directly by the Puyallup Tribal Council.

The Bainbridge Community Foundation along with the support of Cunningham Endowed Family Fund, Sada Ross Fund, and Libby Shonsey & Dave Johnson , gave us a grant to help feed our senior horses, so the horses can keep up the good work they do. 

THANKYOU. 

This grant was made possible through the generosity of The Matt and Jen Wilson Family Fund and the Bainbridge Community Foundation.  We are so grateful for this help to feed and vet our horses, and take care of the people who come here. 

We can't thank the Tulalip Tribe enough for their support helping feed our horses so the kids can be here to learn to work hard and provide for their horse’s needs,

and in doing that, they learn to become accepting of themselves, and learn to love themselves, and

become more equipped to navigate life. Because of that, the horses are well taken care of, and so are the

people who take care of them. This is truly “Horses Helping People Helping Horses.

Thank you, Tulalip Tribe. 

Puget Sound Energy gave us a grant to help famiilies with childcare expenses. We were able to fully fund two weeks of Ranch Hands for youth who needed a place to go while their parents went to work.

Thank you Puget Sound Energy for thinking outside of the box regarding childcare!

 This is the second year that the William H. & Mattie Wattis Foundation has supported us. We are so grateful for them, and their generosity to take care of the horses and kids, and for believing in our mission.   

Paige has been at The Whole Horse Place for 14 years, first as a summer camper, then a wrangler. Her family have been long time supporters of the children and horses here, donating in emergencies, and sponsoring youth every month. We love having Paige here (although it is for special times as she is an adult and busy with her full time job) and her help is priceless. 

Jade first came here as an older Ranch Hand student, and it became clear that she already knew everything we know, even parasite work under the microscopes. She still attended regularly, because it is a barn community here, where she feels like she can be herself. Jade adds so much to our barn community, and is so great with the kids and the horses both. We love having her here. 

Haley was a tag-a-long friend of the wranglers with no where to go and she needed a place to be. She jumped right in and proved herself a great help, and now we couldn't manage without her. Thank you Haley for being so good to us.

Ruby has been volunteering here in every capacity for years. She helps her grandma clean stalls every week (after she cleans her pasture for her own horse and alpacas), she helps with Ranch Hands, she rides horses for us and does everything in between. We love Ruby. A kinder person you will never meet.

Paula is the most incredible volunteer. She is a senior citizen and cleans stalls here, rain or shine, three days a week. She runs circles around everyone else. We rely on her so much, and are so very, very grateful for her. 

  Dennis has years of experience working on a cattle ranch at his cousin’s ranch in Kansas and has volunteered at various horse stables through the years. Dennis has great people skills, and finds it rewarding to work with youth and horses. He is our Ranch Hand mentor to a class of mostly boys, some who lack adult male role models, and who look to him for guidance. Dennis is teaching them to be good men.
 

Rhianna's daugher is in our Ranch Hand program, and Rhianna jumped right in and helped us with the kids and horses here during her daughter's sessions.  She is a very hard worker and just lovely with the children. She makes our jobs so much easier! 

Ken helps us clean stall two days a week, and allows Tina a day off. She is so grateful to him for that, and for his kindness to the horses and genuine humility. 

Josh and Allie saved Chico's life here. They now own him, keep him here for us to use, and help with our Ranch Hand's classes on the weekends, doing anything necessary. They also sponsor youth here who would otherwise be unable to attend. Fred, their son, is a wrangler in training and helping this summer. He is a good, hard, attentive worker!  

L. is in 5th grade, and horribly bullied.  

Her mother texted this: God Bless you for your words of wisdom about bullies!!! Thank you they were received well and she needed guidance from someone other than “us”...”cause we don’t know what it’s like to be her!” She said you told them how to stop bullies through your words and actions…you used horse training for your analogy and she said she now knows what to say to bullies! I just love your approach and modeling you present to her!! You are worth your weight in gold!!! Thank you!!! You are breaking the cycle with this generation of fierce girls with your lived experience and wise perspective!!

K. said that the horse we gave her saved her life. She did not commit suicide; her horse gave her a second chance. We knew she was struggling but we did not know this. The horse we gave her while here saved her life because it gave her a sense of worth. We gave her space, time, and acceptance. 

B. came to us through word of mouth. He was couch surfing, and eating what he could find, until a barn family befriended him, and gave him a bed and a home. He is a senior, and was failing out of school.  Our barn family enrolled him in an alternative high school, and he is on track to graduate this year, with a lot of intervention. If he can't get into college or a trade school, his plan is to join the military and get an education that way. We paired him with Dillon, a horse that had been abandoned at the slaughterhouse. There was an instant connection.

B. has to work with Dillon and make him understand that nothing he can do will make us send him away. In doing this, B. is understanding the same thing, and B. is seeing that punishment or ultimatums are not the answer to someone who is frightened and anxious but rather, just listening and trying to understand, and a lot of other ways to respond to different levels of anxiety. B. is starting to accept that he is good enough. 

D.'s mom said this: D. is a smart kid, almost to his downfall. Previously he would start out the school year with strong-good grades, marks on his report cards for being a good kid in class, listening, doing his work etc. His problem has been I think he gets bored, starts not turning in work, usually by the halfway point in the year his grades are slipping, he starts stacking more and more missed assignments. Starts getting notes on his report cards about not listening in class, not turning in work, or turning it in half completed. The missing work piles up and I think he gets overwhelmed and gives up-doesn't even try anymore. And he finishes up the year with awful grades.

This year since he's been going to the horse place, he's doing noticeably better. We're well into January and his grades are doing great. No missing assignments at all. He's doing better around the house too. Getting his chores done in a timely manner, and doing a more complete job. He's learned to stick with something to completion, he's coming out of his shell a little more every week, he's starting to build confidence-has started more extra curricular activities. 

I super appreciate how Tina parallels how working with horses is like life. How you get out what you put in. Showing confidence to feel confidence. Dealing with bullies and just unpleasant people. 

I've seen a noticeable difference in his demeanor and confidence just in the few months he's been spending time at the barn.

 C. is 12 years old and witnessed a violent crime committed by her father. He is in prison for a long time now, but she has been severely affected. Her mother had not been able to get her out of her room (except for school) and she had not spoken since the event. She is failing school. Out of desperation, her mom asked if she could come here because she had heard horses can help hurting people. She has no finances to cover this. After only one month, her therapist told her mother to NOT stop what they are doing because it is making a “night and day” difference. 

A veteran from Desert Storm, with PTSD, shared this story: I can relate so much to this horse. He is just like me. When we rode out, all was well, but the further we got from familiar territory, and his comfort zone, the more anxious he got, and the worse his reactions, and decisions, became. As soon as we headed back, he wanted to get there at all costs. I realized that I am the same. I fight to stay in familiar circumstances, even if those things are bad- drugs, alcohol, or any decision making situation out of my comfort zone.

Y. is a popular girl at school. She comes from a home of addiction, and is cautious interactng with people. She watches and assesses every facial movement, every gesture. Then she becomes what she needs to be for the people she is around. 

The horses are teaching her to know who she is, and what she thinks, and when and where to let that show. She can't lead a horse or be it's leader and parther without knowing what she wants or who she is. 

S. was in the backseat when a tree fell and killed her parent. She is angry. Her time with her horse here soothes her and gives her respite from heartbreaking fear and pain.

F. was adopted with his siblings, all who have special needs. F's father abandoned them shortly after adoption and died a few years later, leaving no financial support. F. is the youngest, and his exhausted mother is amazing, but has very little left to give to fill up his emotional tank. He has a very good home and all his needs met, but he is lonely. His horse here fills that emotional hole. 

J. is bounced from home to home, in the foster system, while mom is in treatment centers. Sometimes she can go with her mom if her mom has a place to live, and then she goes back to foster care. At this time, mom is better, but it is a battle. Addiction is a terrible family disease. We get J. out here as often as we can, depending on where she is living, and for those days, we know that she knows life is constant. And that her mom is trying as hard as she can. Some of our horses are addicted to toxic weeds, and they can not stop trying to eat them. The horse is not bad. Neither is J.'s mom. 

Not every child here is from hard circumstances! N., when answering her goal and evalutaion questions about how school can get better, said she LOVED her teacher (she is homeschooled) and she LOVED everything about her life. This is a wonderful reminder that life can be very good and children like this are what we want every child to be like and to have. N. is not unique here. Some of the kids hardest problems are that they have parents that won't let them get away with naughty things. We should all be so lucky. 

Z. comes from a home that is going through a hard divorce. Both parents love her, but Z. is in the middle of it all and being used by both parents to hurt the other. Of course Z. feels responsible and the best we can do for her is to let her know she is not responsible, she can't control it, and she can't fix it. Her horse here came from a bad situation. Z. knows that this was not her fault. She didn't cause it, She certainly could not control it's situation, and she could not fix it. All she can do is love it. And separate herself from this horse's circumstances, and know she is not responsible for any of that. It is helping.