Image of Hope Ranch

Testimonial from a mother.

"My family and I have been so honored and blessed with activities at Image of Hope Ranch since the summer of 2020.
In a world where parents of children with autism are judged by their children’s actions, it is such a peace of mind to have a place they can participate in, and people understand. They know how to allow my children to experience this wonderful resource while keeping them safe.
We are truly eyewitnesses of the blood, sweat and tears Alisha, her family, friends and volunteers have given to this beautiful nature sanctuary. It has grown so much over the years from their vision and hard work.
My son, Dalton, is so excited about starting his third year with Equine one on one. When I informed him this week that we have our day and time set to start again in April he let out the biggest “Yippie!” and danced around the house. His love multiplies for all the animals, with a very soft spot for Penny. Not only does his riding strengthen his core, he beams with self-confidence as he rides around the arena and property. This is then followed by his structured give back volunteer time as he cleans up the horse droppings, which he has gained a sense of pride on helping. In addition, he loves keeping up with the health of the horses on the board, reporting on if he had located all the cats and finding the hidden chicken eggs around the farm.
My other son, Trenton, was asked to be part of a peer partnership group from Easterseals Arc with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. At first, overwhelming anxiety of an interaction such as this set in, which was completely washed away when he found out that Image of Hope would be the destination. With his past interactions of our family days of kayaking and the fundraising events we have attended, he knew he would be able to feel relaxed and love on numerous animals.
A sincere thank you to the Shank family for their trust in God to have the courage to take action on their vision. We are truly blessed because you answered the call with an overwhelming “YES”. You are a true blessing to our family and the community of others you serve."
                                                                                                                                                                                      Maria Tretter-Hope

This makes every hard day worth it!! 

A note from Easterseals Arc Northeast Indiana...

"You never know when an extra super great day is going to hit...and then it does!
This is the second time I have had a participant plan an outing for another participant and I just LOVE IT!!!    For many months, John C has been asking to take David W to Image of Hope Ranch.   John said he had no interest in going, but he would go with David to help him enjoy the ranch.  I finally squeezed him in and it was a success!  David was shy at first, but honestly John was a huge help at getting to try and do things.   I would ask David if he wanted to try different things, and he would say, "no I am alright", but then John would ask and he would do it.  By the end of our visit even John wanted to try and put the halter on Penny!    John kept telling David how proud he was of him and when we got in the car David yelled "Yee Haw"! "