SPECIAL SPIRIT INC

1. As an equine therapeutic center, Special Spirit's mission is to empower children and adults through horse-related activities. Our goal is to make equine therapy available to all, regardless of physical or financial challenges. We believe in the tremendous healing and educational effect of interaction with horses, and we are working to continue to provide these benefits to a broad array of individuals in Los Angeles County including foster youth, youth with disabilities and their siblings, and veterans. These populations have been chronically underserved despite their unique vulnerabilities.

Special Spirit is certified by both the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH International) and the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA). Our research-based equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) programs provide a unique, experiential therapy in which the individual has profound emotional epiphanies as well as learns interpersonal skills. Our therapeutic riding programs teach emotional regulation skills as well as having physical benefits to the client.

The cost of owning or even just riding horses on a regular basis is very high and this prohibits many underserved populations from taking advantage of the benefits of interacting with horses. Special Spirit's goal is to provide powerful, effective equine therapy in an inclusive environment at no cost to the vulnerable populations of Los Angeles County.

Despite our agency being relatively young, we have already had great success in expanding our programs, and have served over 150 clients last year. We also collaborate with our community providing volunteer opportunities for students, girl scouts, and individuals with intellectual disabilities. Our short-term goals include: continuing to increase the number of clients served, documenting outcomes and evaluating the success of our programs, then using then using that documentation to secure contracts and grants that will allow us to provide no-cost services, and continuing to partner with other non-profits and individuals in our community.

2. In order to be able to provide no-cost equine-assisted therapies to diverse populations in LA County, Special Spirit is documenting our outcomes and building partnerships in our community. For our Foster Youth EAP program we have secured foundation grants and private donors to be able to provide our research-based model called “Power Tools for Living". However, we have also thoroughly documented the outcomes for the program by utilizing a research-based measurement instrument called the Youth Outcome Questionnaire (YOQ) and Youth Outcome Questionnaire Self-Report (YOQ-SR). These tools allow the youth and their caregiver to give feedback through questions about their behavior, mood, and self-assessment. We administer the YOQ and YOQ-SR before and after the program in order to assess changes. By having this documented evidence of the positive impact of our program we will be able to increase our contracts and partnerships in order to offer the program to more foster youth. We will be completing our first report on the Foster Youth EAP program in 2016. By using research-based models and evaluation tools we are also ensuring best practices.

Special Spirit is also forging strong partnerships in our community. Our agency has collaborated with non-profits, volunteer groups, donors and foundations. Our strategic plan includes recruiting new donors as well as collaborative partners. Through all of these collaborations we are able to pool our resources and provide services to larger numbers of clients as well as ensure a network of support to meet the various needs of each individual.

3. Special Spirit already has a great number of resources, but we have even more potential for growth! Special Spirit operates out of the beautiful Moonshadow Ranch which provides top facilities for therapeutic riding and other equine-assisted activities, including three arenas. The ranch also has an art therapy center including painting, ceramics and other crafts as well as a woodshop for woodworking activities. Moonshadow Ranch has a peaceful and welcoming environment, including youth-friendly murals on the buildings and free-range chickens, peacocks, turkeys and dogs.

Special Spirit also has amazing staff! All of the staff have been certified through either PATH International or EAGALA. The equine specialists have decades of experience working with horses and teaching horsemanship. Our mental health professionals are all licensed in their respective fields, either Licensed Clinical Social Workers or Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists. Special Spirit's staff are also dedicated and passionate about equine-assisted therapies.

Special Spirit has strong partnerships in the community. The agency partners with the non-profit STRIDES-Wellness and Habitat for Humanity to provide services to veterans. We welcome groups of volunteers from Tierra Del Sol, a non-profit for individuals with disabilities, and our local schools and Girl Scout troops. We have received grants from the Lakers Foundation, the Weingart Foundation, and the All Glory Foundation. We have become a vendor through LA County's Department of Mental Health, and we are an approved vendor through the Change A Life Foundation. We are partners with the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) and Autism Care and Treatment (ACT) Today! We also have well-connected Board Members who are dedicated to our mission.

5. Special Spirit is at an exciting time in our history. The agency is relatively young but has made tremendous progress already. The agency has established strong and effective programs, founded partnerships with like-minded community non-profits, and put into place research-backed evaluation methods. Special Spirit has increased the number of clients we serve, but we plan to increase even further once we secure funding. The agency has secured three grants from foundations that are leaders in their field, and we have plans to reach out and partner with other foundations. Our agency also plans on increasing our fundraising efforts with individuals.

One of Special Spirit's goals is securing a government contract to provide equine therapeutic services. Towards that goal, we have become vendors with LA's Department of Mental Health. We also have been thoroughly documenting the outcomes of our Foster Youth EAP program so that we could demonstrate the success and positive impact of the program for foster youth. We have secured two foundation grants and donations from two individual donors in order to complete the first phase of this program. The report will be out in 2016.

One reason we believe that these outcomes will help secure a contract is that a judge ordered the Department of Children and Family Services to pay for equine therapy for one of our foster youth. The judge was able to view our documented success with this foster youth and ordered the continuation of the treatment. Because of the progress this foster youth made in our program she was able to find an adoptive placement. Special Spirit is dedicated to the highest standards of evaluation of our programs, but it is the personal stories like this that mean so much!