We have been at the foundation for almost 5 years now. I have two daughters in the program. They have been so blessed to be a part of it. Merill has gone out of his way to help my daughters learn and have a good experience with their horses. I can't thank him enough. I have watched my girls go from anti-social and very depressed to confident, more outgoing young women who serve others and see the value of that. They have learned to work and make themselves do things that are hard for them. They have learned to regulate their emotions better and have loved their horses and time there. It has truly blessed their lives and mine. I admire and appreciate Merill for his great sacrifice he has made of his time, energy, and money to help our family.
DO NOT SEND YOUR DAUGHTER HERE!
I am a domestic violence and child abuse advocate and my daughter only lasted two days here. The overall premise of the organization is wonderful, and I truly hope the girls that have been to this ranch have found healing and safety, but the man who operates this place is not a safe person for vulnerable girls to be around.
The head trainer is usually the only man on these premises, and he works very closely with the girls. In a short time period, we saw multiple red flags that indicate he may be grooming these girls for sexual assault; I hope like hell it hasn’t happened already.
No one here is a therapist or trauma-informed; at the very least, these vulnerable girls are being put in triggering situations that could exacerbate their trauma and teach them that grooming behaviors used by predators are normal. This is not ok!!! The board knows and is concerned about his behavior, but cannot do anything about it because it is his foundation. Please do your daughter a favor and find a qualified professional or program, maybe even one that will teach her how to protect herself from gross men like this.
Tell me about your child. Aren’t they just perfect, getting the highest grades, college in mind with a promising career? Are they not a shining light in doing nothing but good with the best sort of friends who read Shakespeare and poetry?
I hope not! Truth is kids have a lot to deal with out there and need all the help they can get. I highly recommend Whispering Canyons Foundation. Are daughter was really good, she hadn’t done anything wrong. We were low income do to health problems and we were offered for her to attend. There are skills that she could only learn there. She profited in learning from Mr. Gould and not just us as parents, she learned responsibility being responsible to care, learn, and tend to a caring animal. In riding there was opportunity for education, scholarship, and above all else responsibility. This brought on the excellent chance for maturity that she could not get anywhere else.
We are a low income family due to a sudden accident causing disability. Mr. Gould heard of our situation and took our young teenage daughter under his arm. He taught her the benefit of hard work and the gratification it brings. She was around other young ladies who are going through hard times. For all the months she was there the workers and volunteers didn't so much as raise their voice at her or anyone there. They would state the responsibilities and teach these wonderful youth how to do the work with love and patience.
Our daughter was to govern her horse and gained a relationship with her for all time. She was taught how to act around her horse. To care for her in feeding, brushing, caring. She was supervised and taught to ride in under a week. From that time on she worked toward competitions. The same training lead some of her friends to win all the way to college scholarships. The lessons my daughter learned can't have a price. We are thankful for the help and love they showed to her and she loved every minute of what she got out of it.
I hooked up with Whispering Canyons Foundation when we were helping a neighboring foster child make it to the facility to ride. Within a short period of time I realized that I had found something very special. I have been a volunteer now for almost 2 years and have watched the staff and trainers work with many under-privileged and what would be considered "at risk" teens. I have seen lives changed. And that's enough to give any non-profit a great rating. Whispering Canyons is a pretty small foundation with a big desire to grow and I would highly recommend it as a place to volunteer or to donate.