- [Narrator] They say it takes a village to raise a child,
and the people at Peppers Ranch have taken that literally.
- [Tonya] Peppers Ranch truly is its own village.
I love to say that the only thing we're lacking
is a ZIP code and a mayor.
- [Narrator] But Peppers Ranch is more than a village.
It's a community, where 16 families have each agreed
to care for at least five kids in need.
And their innovative model is changing the way we think
about caring for foster kids.
- [Tonya] What if you were able to encourage more
foster families and even families that aren't
currently fostering, to help more children
than they ever thought possible.
That's what we're doing here at Peppers Ranch.
(ball bounces)
Can you look straight ahead? - Yeah.
- So we can make sure your pony tail is straight.
- [Narrator] This is Tonya Ratcliff.
As a mom to 13 children, she has a pretty busy life.
- [Tonya] To be able to experience being a mother,
it's an amazing gift.
Me and my husband roughly 11 years ago
were called to foster.
-We got bottles, we got diapers, let me get my purse,
and my day timer.
Alright, I'm getting out.
About a year after fostering,
we received a phone call from the founder of Peppers Ranch,
and he said, "I want this new model
"with a community-minded approach to really change
"the face of foster care."
- [Narrator] There are over 400,000 kids
in foster care across the U.S.,
and Tonya knows how tough
it can be for the families fostering them.
- The typical foster family feels isolated,
sometimes they wanna give up,
and at Peppers Ranch, it's very different.
You see families walking that road with you.
Those parents understand the reason that this calling
is your calling because it's their calling too.
- [Narrator] The idea behind Peppers Ranch
is simple but profound.
Supporting awesome foster families
is the best way to help these kids
reach their full potential.
Kids like Scott.
- Okay, so knock knock!
- Who's there? - Who's there?
- Razor. - Razor who?
- Razor hands, this is a stick up!
(children laughing)
- I was in foster care one time when I was eight years old,
and then again when I was 17,
and when I'd gone in the second time,
they told me that I wouldn't find a foster home
because I was too old and that I was a boy.
I was very surprised when I heard about a family
at Peppers Ranch that would be willing
to take me in and help me out.
- [Narrator] That family was the Blankenships.
Shelly and Joe have been foster parents since 2002,
and have lived on Peppers Ranch since 2010.
- [Shelly] Scotty came to us about a month
before he turned 18.
We took him because we didn't want him to be homeless.
He didn't think that he was worth much.
- When I first arrived at the ranch,
I was a month short of being 18,
and I dropped out of school in the eighth grade,
and I had no driver's license, I had no job history,
and I was not ready to be an adult.
- [Shelly] I've been a foster parent
without living out here,
and I've been a foster parent living out here,
and it's so much easier out here.
- [Narrator] The foster families
that call Peppers Ranch home
are all able to access therapeutic services
and educational opportunities on-site,
and that makes a big difference
for the Peppers Ranch families.
- Can you imagine getting nine different children
to nine different services all in one day?
It doesn't happen, but at Peppers Ranch, it can happen,
for the simple fact that those services
are provided on-site.
We have art therapy, community events,
pet therapy, read to me programs, equestrian therapy.
So many different services that help
children heal from trauma.
- [Narrator] Having that support on-site allows families
like the Blankenships to take on even more foster kids.
Kids they wouldn't have been able
to care for if they didn't live at Peppers Ranch.
- My foster family, they were just very opening
and accepting to, you know,
the person that I was that time in my life,
and just kinda let me discover who I was
and what were the things that I liked
and to be able to grow through it.
A year after I met my foster family,
they ended up adopting me.
- [Narrator] Since 2002, Peppers Ranch families
have provided care for more than 500 foster children,
and with a second property opening nearby,
this innovative program will continue to empower
families and help even more children in need.
- [Tonya] These kids are gonna be our future leaders,
so what better time than now
to help them heal from trauma,
heal from abuse, heal from neglect?
Regardless of what they were born into,
we want them to know they can do anything
and be anything that they wanna be.
A home is where a family resides,
where souls are invested in, where people are safe.
Home and a family is what these children
not only yearn for, but what they deserve.
(gentle piano music)
- Catalysts highlights social entrepreneurs
exploring bold solutions to big problems.
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