More than $5 million in federal money will be coming into the Roaring Fork Valley soon, but not soon enough.

Donna Otabachian, the executive director of Ranch Good Days (RGD), has been keeping the dream alive that somehow she would be able to build a place for girls to go that have very few other optifound that place, up on a sprawling mesa in Missouri Heights, on property that was owned by longtime area resident Elana McNulty. That property was foreclosed on earlier this year and was in danger of development.

Now, an agreement with several partners has come together to preserve about 370 acres of land near Upper Cattle Creek. RGD, also known as the Colorado Girls Ranch, is a nonprofit organization started by Otabachian that will temporarily house girls who need a home. The program uses animals, mainly horses, to help heal the wounds of a hard life.

“A lot of times foster care isn’t successful. These girls need a place to go for about three to six months, until their family situation improves or they can transition into independence,” said Otabachian of the mission of RGD. “We’re trying to incorporate cultural support and find out who they are and what they’re here for — to give the girls meaning in their life gives them hope.”

Although the federal government has committed to underwrite the purchase of the land through the USDA Department of Rural Development for an undisclosed amount, Otabachian said the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill that includes the funding hasn’t been passed yet. Nevertheless, she said RGD has had a license for the land, formerly known as Pleasant Valley Ranch, since June of this year from the current landowners, who are now founding supporters of the Colorado Girls Ranch program.

“We hope that the bill passes before winter break as it includes many programs that are safety nets for our children,” said Otabachian, referring to programs like food stamps and even renewable energy research that is included in the bill. “It’s just a waiting game now.”

A special homecoming

While she’s waiting for the major funding to come through, Otabachian has already gotten her El Jebel home licensed as a foster care facility with six beds to serve at-risk girls from counties statewide and the Indian nations of the four corners region. “I’ve been keeping the dream alive,” said Otabachian, who holds a doctorate in education administration and a master’s degree in psychology. She previously worked with at-risk youth in Denver at a program with 70 kids, 50 who were Native American, and saw a major need for something that didn’t yet exist for girls.
“I had three orphans, kids that were runaways,” she said. “I couldn’t bring them all home with me, nor could I understand why there wasn’t a phone number that I could call to get more assistance from the state.

“The boys ranch has been around since 1952, and now we have six beds available. These are the only beds in an all-girl’s facility available in the entire Rocky Mountain region,” Otabachian said.

The Colorado Boys Ranch in La Junta has about 90 beds and has been successful in helping boys avoid high risk-behavior involving drugs, alcohol, sex and violence. But, she said, the girls have been left out of the picture for some reason.

Eventually, Otabachian hopes to house about 40 girls ages 14 to 21 at the ranch, which will have a fully licensed staff as well as support from universities, like CU Boulder, for medical, dental and psychiatric services.

“A think tank got together in 2003 to identify the gaps in service, and we found there is nothing available for girls, nothing for Native Americans. The Ute tribes are sending girls out of state,” said Otabachian, who added that the ranch in Missouri Heights was historically part of the Ute Nation territory. “Our ranch was homesteaded in the 1860s after the departure of the Ute Nation. For them (Ute nation families) to come here is a no-brainer.”

Land preservation

“The land is the project, the project is the land,” said Otabachian, quoting a saying from Northern Ute Indians that embodies the mission of RGD.

RGD came to Pleasant Valley Ranch on invitation from Elana McNulty in July 2005. According to Otabachian, after the ranch foreclosed in January of this year, the investors who ended up with the land worked with her to make her dream a reality.

“We plan to preserve it. It’s remote, but close to all these wonderful towns. This will benefit the girls from the Ute Nation,” she said. “Part of our mission is trying to bring back the harmony and balance of the nation.

“The partners didn’t want to see the land carved up and turned into mini McMansions,” she added. “We already realize we need to save the land. I came from the Front Range, and I tried to have a ranch there, but it fell through because of development.”

Shannon Meyer, the associate director of the Aspen Valley Land Trust (AVLT), said she has already talked to Otabachian about conservation easements on the property.

The AVLT is currently working with Wendy McNulty to secure conservation easements on some of the other remaining ranch property from the McNulty family holdings that date back to the turn of the century.

Cutting edge therapy

RGD will use Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) and equine reproduction to teach girls important life lessons. The ranch will also serve as a habitat for rescued animals.

Arrianna, Lilly and Sierra Rose, all purebred Arabian mares, will be part of the healing process at RGD. Developing relationships, training, horsemanship instruction, and caring for the horses naturally affects the people involved in a meaningful way, said Otabachian.

Otabachian said she expects many research papers to come from the professionals working at RGD. She is hoping to partner with local mental health care practitioners as well as bring in students and professors from outside the area to work with the girls.

“It’s wonderful to have a facility for mental health practitioners to operate. They can watch the therapy in action,” Otabachian said. “The girls come in deplorable shape with all sorts of health issues. Most of them are on Medicaid, and there are very few, if any, doctors that can accept Medicaid in this area.”

Otabachian wants to make RGD a medical facility for people on Medicaid.

“It’s a pretty big project. It’s like a village within a village. It’s addressing a serious lack of services,” she said. “We’re looking to bring the university system up there because they have the funding to work in this environment. That’s what is exciting; this is a real place of hope for these girls. It’s an exciting way to observe cutting edge services.”

Therapy for the girls at RGD also involves things like going to the Carbondale Mountain Fair, hoopin’ at the hula hoopin’ competition at the GEO Store, and going to the Glenwood Hot Springs or to the movies when funding allows.

A successful model

“There are six other states that are looking at this to see how it works. We want to be successful so we can give them a road map (to) create this type of thing,” said Otabachian, who is hoping the money and the partnerships come together for all the right reasons.

Otabachian is looking for additional financial assistance to get RGD through until the federal funding finds its way from Washington. She said she needs to raise about $10,000 before Christmas to help with the foster care program she is running and to get facilities built for the animals and girls who will be coming up to the ranch.

More information about RGD is available at www.ranchgooddays.org, or by calling 963-9400. Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 976, Basalt, CO 81621. Volunteers are also needed.