OUR ROOTS
BMYR was born out of a story of struggle and hope. Our founder, Katie Rogers, found herself struggling with depression as a teen and young adult. Through God's providence, Katie achieved a lifelong dream and bought her first horse. Freckled Charlie was a scrappy, retired racing Thoroughbred. Through the development of her relationship with Charlie, Katie found a source of hope and healing and Charlie became a relationship mentor, guide, and lifeline to God. In the years since, horses have continued to be a place of meeting with God for Katie, and because of how horses have impacted her in this way, she decided to share her love of horses with those who struggle, and to use horses to help others catch a special glimpse of God through the unconditional love of a horse, just like she did many years ago.
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Katie Rogers is an Arkansas native and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas in Human Development and Family Sciences. This degree covers the entire lifespan and equipped Katie with the knowledge needed to address the challenges children and youth face while building skills that carry over into their adulthood years. Katie and her husband Jeremy founded Boston Mountain Youth Ranch in 2017.
BMYR is a Northwest Arkansas nonprofit that provides free mentoring services to children who are struggling by partnering with the horses who live on the Ranch. Katie is passionate about connecting people and horses to being about healing, growth, and transformation. The BMYR program utilizes principles from Dan Siegel, Bruce Perry, Bessel Van der Kolk, Peter Levine, Karen Purvis, TBRI, and Natural Lifemanship when teaching and empowering volunteers for our mentoring program and in parent education and outreach.
OUR FUTURE
As we look to the future of BMYR, we see a bright ray of hope and healing in our community. There are so many children and families who struggle and they often do not have access to, or funds available, to engage in equestrian activities. It is our desire to use our horses and other activities on the Ranch to meet these kids where they are. By offering our services for free, it removes boundaries and limitations for families and allows us to focus on what we do best: working with kids and horses.
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OUR VISION
We believe in healing hearts and sharing hope to hurting or struggling children through mentorship services and activities. Our purpose is to provide a positive, safe and structured equestrian and farm environment for poor, at-risk, and disadvantaged children so that children and their families can experience the unconditional love of Jesus.
WHAT WE DO
We work with children and their families, utilizing a mentoring model in our work with children who are struggling by partnering them with a mentor and a horse. These sessions are aimed at working with each child on the skills needed for healthy relationships: connection, attunement, attachment, and boundaries.
OUR COMMUNITY
Our generous community of volunteers mentor kids, handle horses, welcome guests, and help around the farm with maintenance and farm chores. We also have volunteers from our community who help with larger projects and fundraising efforts.
BMYR BOARD MEMBERS
Katie Rogers
Executive Director
Tracy Goza
Secretary
