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Click here to review the wish lists of our non-profit community and learn all the ways in which you can make a wish come true!

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UPCOMING DEADLINES:

Postmark on Grant Applications June 27th

IMPACT 100

The 2008 deadline was March 1st, but we hope you'll join us next year!

JOIN TODAY

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Horse Thearapy

by Jennifer Waters

EXPANDING MOLINO RANCH HELPING THE DISABLED AND AT-RISK YOUTH

The Leaning Post Ranch provides equine therapy to two very different populations individuals with developmental disabilities and at-risk youth.

Initially, in 1992, the ranch had one horse available for one gang member.

Now, the horse therapy program, which operates on 40 acres in Molino, just north of Pensacola, features four instructors, more than 35 volunteers, 17 horses and a Shetland pony.

And the riders who are wheelchair bound feel like they can walk when they're on the horses.

"It's not just horseback riding," says Fran Gersin, who serves as executive director with her husband, Newman.

Pensacolians continue to support the couple's mission at the Leaning Post Ranch. An open house to showcase its newest facilities made possible entirely through donations is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 3. Reservations are required for the event, which is designed as a "thank you" to recent major contributors: the group Impact 100, Bill and Connie Greenhut, and Billy and Faye Campbell.

Instead of describing the specific training the ranch's equines have received, Fran talks instead about their intuition.

"They're therapeutic horses that sense there is an issue, and they treat (the rider) differently from how they would treat you or I," she says.

A project of the non-profit Panhandle Youth Assistance Program Inc., the Leaning Post Ranch designs its equine therapy sessions around the needs of developmentally disabled people and at-risk youth.

The ranch also offers summer camps for underprivileged youth and serves school groups and agencies, such as Independence for the Blind, Loaves and Fishes and Favor House.

Fran and Newman live on the ranch and work part-time for the Department of Children and Families. They are certified addiction associate professionals who have worked with at risk youth since 1972.

Fran, who was familiar with horses from her own youth, became the first certified therapeutic riding instructor at the ranch.

Then, once she saw the effectiveness of equine therapy in the lives of children with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities, the scope of the program expanded to include more riders, ranch officials say.

Kim Lien, a board member, finds the ranch impressive.

"It's very contagious once you get around (Fran and Newman)," and "when you see the passion that everybody has for the ranch," she says.

None of the instructors or staff are paid for their work at the ranch, which relies on donations and grants.

Financially, "it's month to month, for sure," Fran says. "We don't have a big budget or anything like that. We're not under any big umbrella."

One recent contributor, IMPACT 100, is a philanthropic group of women who each give $1,000 annually to the organization. The members conduct site visits to agencies that apply for its grants.

But the day Connie Greenhut visited the ranch to follow up on the grant application, Fran says she had the kids inside her house because it was raining and they could not ride.

"And I was broken hearted," says Fran, who had desperately wanted Greenhut to see the kids and horses in action.

The Leaning Post did, however, receive IMPACT 100's over $113,000 grant.

And that's not all.

Connie went home and told her husband Bill, president of Greenhut Construction Company, about all the things the Leaning Post needed, such as restrooms, according to Fran.

The resulting Greenhut Building now at the ranch consists of two handicapped bathrooms close to the riding area, a multi-purpose room, and a three-stall grooming area.

The Greenhuts also donated manpower and supplies to make improvements to the entrance road to comply with county standards.

The IMPACT grant money went toward a covered riding arena, prior to which, "Children would miss their lessons because of the weather," Lien says.

Faye and Billy Campbell will also be thanked at the May 3 event. The Campbell's contributions, Fran, says, have included renovating her and Newman's house to make it livable, and performing over $100,000 worth of work clearing trees and debris after Hurricane Ivan. The couple also purchased a truck for the ranch.

The Leaning Post has a "wish list" on its website, but what is most needed now, Fran says, is a climate controlled tack room. With the mildew in Florida, she says, it's very difficult to keep the gear clean in the 100-year-old barn where it is now stored.

The ranch also needs volunteers, especially people who are familiar with horses.

"You get more from it than you give as a volunteer," Lien says knowingly.

The ranch is a Premier Accredited Center of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, "which means we're the best of the best," says Fran, who adds there are only around 743 such facilities worldwide.

Yet, "Most people are still not real aware of us."

To receive the national accreditation, criteria ranging from financial auditing to safety standards must be met.

In the future, Fran says she hopes the ranch can provide equine therapy to veterans.

"Now that we have a state-of-the-art facility, we can serve anybody we want to," she says.

jwaters@inweekly.net

For more information, to volunteer or to make a donation to the Leaning Post Ranch, call 587-5940 or visit www.theleaningpostranch.com. The website includes the non-profit's wish list of needs.

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Published - March, 15, 2008

IMPACT 100 to award $500,000 in grants

Carlton Proctor

cproctor@pnj.com

For the first time in its short history, IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area will fund a $100,000-plus grant in each of its five not-for-profit community service categories. IMPACT President Linda Hoffman said the women's philanthropic group, founded in 2004, closed its 2008 membership drive recently with 563 women, up 19 percent from last year's total of 472.

"We remain the biggest IMPACT group in the United States, which says a great deal about the philanthropic nature of the Pensacola Bay Area," said president-elect Julie Sheppard. The next largest IMPACT group is in Austin, Texas, with 510 members who gave away four grants of $104,000 each in 2007, according to Debbie Ritchie, past president of the Pensacola organization.

IMPACT is a women-only, all volunteer group that focuses its efforts on five community service sectors: arts and culture; education; environment, recreation and preservation; family; and health and wellness. Annual $1,000 contributions from each of the 563 members will enable the organization to award five 2008 grants, one in each focus area, of $112,600 each.

The organization is completely volunteer, and no contributed funds are used for administrative expenses or overhead. All nonprofit organizations in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties that fit within the five focus areas are eligible to apply for the grants, Hoffman said. Deadline for applications this year is April 30.

Since its founding four years ago, the group has raised and distributed almost $1.3 million to nonprofits in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

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IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area is a not-for-profit organization that promotes human welfare through the caring actions of women working together to achieve a common goal. IMPACT 100 is committed to improving our community by collectively funding significant grants to charitable initiatives.Members of IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area are given the opportunity to learn about the various needs that exist within our community. As non-profits apply for grant funding, members work together to find solutions to assure a better quality of life for all concerned. By better understanding our community needs and providing significant resources, IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area members can make a difference in the lives of others. IMPACT 100 hopes to make a substantial impact on the Pensacola Bay Area community. As individuals, we may not ever have the opportunity to give on a large scale, but collectively we are able to make a significant impact.IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area membership is open to all women who live in, or wish to help, the Pensacola Bay Area community. The membership deadline each year is March 1. We invite you to join us as part of IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area for 2007 or by making a contribution as a “friend” of our organization.

IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area

Post Office Box 13304

Pensacola, FL 32591-3304

Main: (888) 992-5646
Fax: (888) 897-8781

info@impact100pensacola.org