PRESS RELEASE                                    July 8, 2021

The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League Grants $81,680 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch at National Convention

Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch will receive $81,680 from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League to support the Deaconess Ministry portion of its Spiritual Life programming. Recognizing the need to minister directly to the hearts of the young girls and boys in their care, in 2018 the Ranch called LCMS Deaconess Kelly Bristow to complement the work of the Spiritual Life staff.

The Ranch’s Spiritual Life Program is offered to all children who enter into care. Ranch employees encourage residents to participate in Chapel, Christian education, and Spiritual Life groups, as well as to meet individually with an on-campus Chaplain or Spiritual Life Specialist. They are also invited to minister to others by working with the elderly, attending Bible camp, volunteering in the community during special events, and more.

The Christian values children learn at the Ranch aid in their healing, provide a foundation of hope, and help them to be successful in their treatment.  Those lessons often stay with them through their entire lives, helping to positively shape and influence their future.

Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch is a Christ-centered residential treatment and educational center for children and their families. We help the most troubled, complicated and amazing kids by providing best-in-class psychiatric therapy and trauma-informed care, where we look kids in the eye, walk with them, and help them become their best selves. In addition to Residential Treatment Facilities in Fargo, Bismarck, and Minot, the Ranch provides Outpatient Psychiatric and Psychological Services, and Spiritual Life Programs. Our on-campus school, Dakota Memorial School (DMS), provides a personalized education for kids who have psychiatric, behavioral and trauma issues.

The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) is the official women’s auxiliary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. It is composed of individual women and women’s groups within LCMS congregations. The LWML seeks to develop and maintain a greater mission consciousness among women of the LCMS through education, inspiration, and service.