SHINING HOPE FARMS

Our ultimate goal is to foster quality of life improvements for children and adults with disabilities, mental health challenges, and Veterans in the Western Piedmont Region of North Carolina and to serve these individuals without discrimination, including of finances. Ultimately, we aim for 85% of these clients to make functional gains during their time in our programs to improve the quality of life for them and their families.

Organizationally, over the next five years our goals are to:
1) Develop the strength of our board of directors by increasing the size of the board and support from each member, including an increase in diversity.
2) Commit to a thriving, stable and supportive environment for the staff of Shining Hope Farms.
3) Ensure the long-term sustainability of Shining Hope Farms and continue to build its capacity to perform at a high level.
4) Increase strong strategic partnerships for the mutual benefit of program participants and the communities we serve.
5) Build the financial capacity of the organization to sustain current operations, as well as support growth.
6) Continue to evaluate program offerings at all locations, and improve upon, and/or expand, to serve our clients well, and grow our regional and national presence and influence.
7) Sustain, and gain more efficiency, in our day to day operations, leveraging technology, where possible.

In the next five years, we will continue to admit and discharge clients into our programs as appropriate and continue to serve and foster quality of life improvements in our counties. It is our goal to always maintain a relationship with our clients and their families, and have them continue to come out to the farm to participate in enriching activities.

To combat the high cost of caring for a child with disabilities, our organization plays an important role in improving the lives of these primarily pediatric individuals in our community through highly sought after unique strategies without adding the aforementioned financial burden to their families. Rather than focusing on prevention, we feel we are best equipped to serve as a holistic direct human and medical service provider to those that are resistant to traditional therapies and to those that would like to explore enriching therapeutic options but are unable to afford them.

The same holds true for our Veterans who largely pay $0 out of pocket for services which we instead cover through fundraising efforts.

Our strategies are to 1) Serve any person without discrimination of finances, race, religion, or ethnic background, 2) To be competent, by upholding the highest standards in the industry through proper certification and credentialing processes for the benefit of the participants (this includes adhering to all Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship Intl. and American Hippotherapy Association standards), 3) To be compassionate, by providing a nurturing environment by building relationships with clients, their families, and community partners, and 4) To enhance the long-term sustainability of Shining Hope Farms and continue to build its capacity to be able to provide high quality services.

Near-term Activities that strengthen our strategic approach

- Continue to secure funding that will subsidize the cost to provide services to prevent the necessity of charging our participants an equine fee for therapy.

- Recruit volunteers to be utilized in select positions whenever possible to keep the program affordable.

- Stay current on staff credentialing and offer workshops for further training.

- Work towards developing a scholarship program for participants who cannot afford the fee for the Therapeutic Riding Program or for their co-pays/deductibles for the Therapy Programs. Aside, from enabling us to continue to service without discrimination of finances, it will enable us to continue our relationship with children who have reached their evaluation goals and need to be transitioned from the Therapy Programs into the Therapeutic Riding Program.

- In an effort to be sustainable and to continue to perform at a high level, there are several near-term capital improvements that SHF is eager to accomplish. The projects include:

1) Securing funding to build a handicap accessible playground at all location to serve as an alternative farm-rich space for evaluation and treatment.

2) Construct a new barn at our Charlotte location as we have outgrown our current barn and are in need of some logistical improvements.

3) Cover our outdoor arenas with pavilions to protect fragile clients and staff from the elements like damaging sun and rain while still remaining outside.

Shining Hope Farms' internal and external resources provide a strong foundation from which we are equipped to achieve our goals.

Internal Resources:

Staff - In an effort to sustain our goal of excelling in competency and upholding the highest standards in the industry we require our staff to have all required certifications and maintain proper credentials. All our instructors are PATH, Intl. Registered or Advanced Level Riding Instructors. Additionally, all of our therapists are either Level 1 or Level 2 AHA, Inc. (American Hippotherapy Association, Inc.) certified and one is one of only a handful of PATH, Intl. Registered Physical Therapists in the state.

Budget - Our budget is at the core of our goal to have the financial provision to take care of the poor and needy families desiring enrollment into the programs and to not discriminate based on finances. The vast majority of our funding goes straight to our programs. Shining Hope Farms continues to keep administrative costs at a minimum for the benefit of the program and its participants.

Expertise - Our riding instructors have long history with working with equines, including our equine specialist who is an HA graduate of the United States Pony Club.

External Strengths:

Partnerships - Shining Hope Farms partners with many organizations for the benefit of the consumers that we serve, to build relationships, to broaden the scope of individuals we are able to serve, as well as to ensure there is no duplication of services across organizations.

For our Community Service Program we partner with the following groups: Hands-on-Charlotte (a local chapter of the national Hands On Network), Wells Fargo, BB&T, Bank of America, SAP Corporation, Premier Inc., The Boy Scouts of America, The Girl Scouts of America, local churches, civic organizations, public and private schools, and colleges and Universities.

Influence - Milinda Kirkpatrick, influential SHF Staff for the nonprofit has managed grants including but not limited to the Ronald McDonald's House Charities of North Carolina, the Glenn Foundation, The Community Foundation of Gaston County, The Foundation of the Carolinas, Truliant Federal Credit Union, Speedways Children's Charities, Walmart, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, and the Carolina Panthers. She also won the Linda Wagner Slade Distinguished Service Award from the Community Foundation of Gaston County. It is awarded annually to a volunteer who is willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Progress towards Milestone 1: Students are demonstrating improvements in the areas of confidence and self-esteem.

Progress towards Milestone 2: We have expanded and renovated many of our facilities to date through contributor dollars and grant funding. We continue to fundraise for further expansion and renovations.

Progress towards Milestone 3: We continue to meet and exceeded the mark for this milestone. Volunteers are being recruited, trained, and are working effectively in the programs. We are still working on developing and adjusting strategies for long-term retention.

Progress towards Milestone 4: Children enrolled have met the majority of their individualized goals and new goals have been established to help with other deficits/weaknesses.

Progress towards Milestone 5: We are still in the planning process.