For Dana Lopez and her family, Dogwood Ranch didn't begin with a building, a program or even a piece of property.
It began with a belief that family can play an important role in healing.
That belief eventually brought several members of one family from Southern California to southwest Missouri. It led Dana and her husband, Brian, to become foster parents. And over the years, it has grown into a nonprofit serving foster youth, young adults, veterans, first responders and families dealing with difficult circumstances.
Today, Dogwood Ranch operates two programs and is building a third that could provide homes for some of Missouri's hardest-to-place foster children.
"We like to say that it came by family for family," said Lopez, co-founder and CEO of Dogwood Ranch.
Dogwood Ranch was established by Dana and Brian, along with both sets of their parents.
The family originally came from Southern California. Beginning in 2007, family members started relocating to southwest Missouri one by one.
Brian already had ties to the Ozarks. He previously spent about five years in Branson working with a ministry he had grown to love.
When the family began talking seriously about starting Dogwood Ranch, they knew Southern California wasn't where they wanted to do it.
"We set our sights on this greater Springfield area and then landed here in Christian County," Lopez said. "We're so thankful that we did."
Over the years, Missouri became home.
"It's been the most incredible place to do life together as a family, to reach our community, to do ministry and to run this nonprofit," she said.
Even the organization's name reflects those early conversations.
Dana and Brian were newly married and still living in California when they started searching for something connected to Missouri. They were drawn to the dogwood tree and its meaning in an old Christian legend.
They also knew horses would eventually be part of their work.
Put the two together and Dogwood Ranch was born.
The mission became clearer after Dana and Brian moved to Missouri and became foster parents.
Over roughly 15 years, the couple parented 36 teenage girls in their home.
That experience gave them a firsthand look at the challenges faced by children entering foster care after experiencing abuse, neglect, abandonment and other trauma.
It also showed them that traditional approaches didn't always work for every child.
Talk therapy can be extremely helpful, Lopez said. But asking a young person with years of trauma to sit in an office and immediately explain those experiences isn't always easy.
Some children simply don't have the words.
The Lopez family already had horses, and they began noticing the connection developing between the animals and the children.
That observation eventually became Healing Reins, Dogwood Ranch's mental health-based equine therapy program.
"We started recognizing just the way that God created horses and kids to connect," Lopez said.
For children who have been deeply disappointed or hurt by adults, trusting another person can be a major hurdle.
A horse can provide a different starting point.
"Building trust with a human is going to be a lot harder than building trust with a horse who's never abandoned you or abused you or left you or isolated you," Lopez said.
The relationship with the horse becomes part of the therapeutic process.
"They need healing. They need wholeness. They need to work through their significant trauma, but they don't always have the right words when they're around humans," Lopez said. "But man, you get them around horses, and something just unlocks in their heart."
Healing Reins uses those interactions to help participants work on skills that eventually carry into relationships with people.
Trust is one example.
Boundaries are another.
"If you can have boundaries with a 1,500-pound horse, you can have boundaries with people in your own life as well," Lopez said.
Those lessons allow participants to practice healthy relationship skills in a setting that may feel less threatening than immediately trying them with another person.
Foster youth remain a major part of the program. Lopez said about 65% of Healing Reins clients are currently or formerly involved in foster care.
But the ranch serves others as well.
Military veterans and their families participate, along with first responders and their families and survivors of domestic violence. Local school districts sometimes refer families to the ranch, and Dogwood Ranch also works with the juvenile office and residential facilities.
While their stories are different, many arrive carrying some form of trauma.
The horses can help open a door.
As Healing Reins developed, another problem became increasingly clear.
Children in foster care eventually become adults.
For some, turning 18 doesn't mean they're suddenly prepared to live independently.
In 2019, Dogwood Ranch opened The Haven, a transitional living program for former foster youth ages 18 to 25.
The Haven provides safe housing while young adults learn the everyday skills needed to build an independent life.
The program currently has two cabins and can house four residents at a time.
Although it wasn't created exclusively for women, Lopez said nearly all of the referrals have been young women.
Residents generally spend about a year in the program.
During that time, they're expected to work toward employment and sobriety while participating in mentorship and life-skills training.
Dogwood Ranch also helps with something that can become a major obstacle to independence in the Ozarks — transportation.
If a resident doesn't have a driver's license, the program helps with driver's training. For participants successfully working through the program, Dogwood Ranch will also help make sure they have reliable transportation, whether that means purchasing or repairing a vehicle.
"We make sure that they leave our program driving independently with a working vehicle, employed and sober," Lopez said.
Those may sound like ordinary parts of adulthood.
For a young person who has grown up without stability, they can be life-changing.
The Haven also found an unexpected area of need.
Single mothers.
Dogwood Ranch is among the programs in the greater Springfield area that allows young mothers to have their minor children live with them while participating in transitional housing.
That means the program isn't helping only one generation.
"This is really a generational focus for us," Lopez said.
Young mothers can work toward stability without being separated from their children. At the same time, they're learning how to build a different environment for those children than the one they may have experienced themselves.
For Lopez, watching that happen has become one of the most meaningful parts of the work.
"The most beautiful and most powerful piece of this is watching them parent from a place of wholeness and not brokenness," she said.
The goal is to interrupt a cycle rather than simply manage it.
For someone who grew up experiencing instability, neglect or trauma, creating a stable home for the next generation can be a significant accomplishment.
Dogwood Ranch is now preparing for its next major step.
Its third project is called The Village, and construction is already underway.
Once complete, plans call for a community of seven single-family homes designed to house and parent some of Missouri's hardest-to-place foster youth.
These are children who may struggle to find a long-term foster home because of significant behavioral or emotional needs.
Dogwood Ranch wants to provide another option.
"We really want to go after those that do not have a long-term place to call home because their behaviors are so significant," Lopez said.
Rather than approaching the project as a traditional residential facility, The Village will be centered around individual families living in homes with the children.
The idea goes back to the belief that started Dogwood Ranch.
"We just really believe that God created family for healing, and that these kids deserve to experience that in the context of family," Lopez said.
Dogwood Ranch also recognizes that asking families to parent children with significant trauma and behavioral needs requires additional support.
The Village is being designed with that in mind.
Lopez said families will have access to 24-hour support on site.
That will allow children to experience family life while their caregivers have resources nearby when difficult situations arise.
It's an approach shaped by the Lopez family's own years of foster parenting.
After parenting 36 teenage girls, Dana and Brian understand both the rewards and the difficulties that can come with caring for young people who have experienced serious trauma.
The Village brings those experiences together with lessons learned through Healing Reins and The Haven.
One program works toward healing.
Another helps young adults build independence.
The Village is intended to provide something earlier in the process — a stable family and a long-term place to belong.
Fundraising will become a major focus as construction continues, with the organization planning a larger fundraising effort for the project next year.
Nearly two decades after the family began moving from California to southwest Missouri, Dogwood Ranch looks much different than the idea Dana and Brian first discussed as newlyweds.
But the heart of it hasn't changed much.
It's still family helping family.
Sometimes that means putting a child beside a horse and giving them the space to begin trusting again.
Sometimes it means giving a young adult a safe cabin, helping them find a job or teaching them to drive.
Sometimes it means helping a young mother create a healthier home for her own children.
And soon, if plans for The Village come together, it could mean giving some of Missouri's hardest-to-place foster children something many have been waiting a long time to find.
A family.
And a place they can finally call home.
More information about Dogwood Ranch, its programs and ways to support its work is available at dogwoodranch.org. The organization can also be found on Facebook and Instagram, and general inquiries can be sent to info@dogwoodranch.org.
