Special Needs Horses (Winterport, Hancock: live in, military, law)

[Acadianlion]

My wife and I are spearheading a new venture that will bring horses and other animals to a new kind of farm that will serve the needs of special needs adults, children and ESPECIALLY those service members who have been injured in service to our nation.

My wife has an extensive background as a special needs teacher; I have a background as a teacher in economically and socially deprived education and as a military veteran. We have been studying the remarkably therapeutic value of interaction between those of special needs of all kinds with animals, and have begun the development of this kind of educational sanctuary in Maine...it will be the first of its type.

We do not have a name, nor a location for this facility as yet. But we do know these few details:

• We will be a 501C3 (non profit)organization
• Our initial emphases will be on military veterans and special needs children and young adults using one of several special needs curriculae that have been developed for these groups.
• We will be looking for volunteers to serve on the various boards, as working volunteers for all sorts of purposes.
• We will have membership levels that involve giving "in kind" as well as financial donations to the establishment and operation of the foundation.
• We expect to have an initial capacity of ten to twenty horses, and a variety of other animals. We will also have space for a seasonal Farmers Market and other public activities.

There are many, many other aspects of this program, as we intend to make it not only a therapeutically interactive working farm/ranch, but a tourist end destination, a job incubator, and friendly, learning center for families who will have a chance to learn about other peoples perhaps less fortunate than they, yet with human value for them to experience and learn from.

This is very, very early in the game. We are working on the basics of the business plan this weekend, and will begin to flesh out the structure over the weeks ahead. This is NOT a charitable effort of m wife and I: we will contribute much to this venture, but the money that will need to be raised will come from many sources.

Over the weeks ahead, I will be publishing more about this project, including the tentative name that will be used, both here and on my website, which is Home - Acadia Readers.

We're excited about the venture and the prospects for the benefits of those who need and can benefit from the therapeutic interaction with all sorts of animals, all here in Maine.

Stay tuned.

[RHB]

Sounds great, I have never heard of one of these in the north, are you going to run it through the winter also?

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by RHB

Sounds great, I have never heard of one of these in the north, are you going to run it through the winter also?

Year round. 24/7.

[S Williams]

This sounds wonderful, Acadianlion. Best wishes on your project.

[palval1]

Great! What town do you live in? I may be interested in volunteering if it's not too far from Winterport. I've volunteered many yrs in therapeutic riding centers on Cape Cod...have also worked in the special need field for 30+ yrs. In any event, congrats on your new venture. It will be a wonderful resource for so many people.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

There is a similar facility. Send me a PM.

[Acadianlion]

Right now our attention is confined to Hancock County.

This is primarily my wife's venture, and tomorrow she meets with some political people who will help her to discuss this with the department of Veterans' Affairs and others.

We are also discussing this, "IN THEORY" with lending institutions, and have met with some very, very tentative success: the reaction to the concept is terrifically positive.

We'll see. There is a LOT of work to do yet. And we are an enormously long way away from being able to talk about volunterrism, or fund rasing. In my intial post I mentioned fund raising and was admonished by the administration of this web site not to do that using this website. Let me be clear as I have been with the admin people. This venture...tenatively called "Serenity Farm"...is to be a 501c(3) corporation. That under Maine and Federal law makes it a non-profit venture, so ANY form of fund raising will be done in a very formal way, and involve an independent collaborator...bank, trust company, or the like...to be the holder of the funds. And under no circumstances would we be able to hold our virtual hands out until all of that is detailed, and the fund raising process completely organized.

As I said: a LOOOOONG way to go!

[palval1]

Keep tuned into the end result. You'll pull it off. Your community will support you, for sure.