Creating a Culture of Joy
at Rancho Milagro
There is nothing more essential for a child to flourish than joyful, secure and attached relationships.
At Rancho Milagro, kids are free to explore the world, engage their surroundings, learn healthy response techniques and gain coping skills to course correct and grow in curiosity and discovery.
Kids see success when creating and being encouraged with redirection so they can see another option. Youth day at the Rancho Milagro will provide this type of learning and healing!
FAQs
Kids 5-17
Yes!
We start off all together with games and a team building exercise with the animals. We enjoy a family style meal together. Have you ever painted a horse? Can you rope a cow? Have you ever eaten something you planted in the ground? We spend the last hour doing creative activities to help us connect and grow a healthy mindset.
Tolstoy said, “Life cannot have any other purpose than joy and goodness. Only this purpose – joy- is ultimately worthy of life.” When a child experiences a trauma from abuse, toxic shame is the minds natural response. Countless youth have been robbed of their joy. Most only know how to survive and have little in the way of coping tactics.
Shame weakens the process of joyful connection, integration, and creativity. It is a neurobiological experience that can determine a person’s sense of worth. Since toxic shame would have one believe that they are worthless, isolation is the next response. The survival technique of seclusion further prohibits a child from the opportunity of lifegiving, healing relationships.
There is nothing more essential for a child to flourish than joyful, secure and attached relationships. Someone needs to intervene on their behalf.
A day at Rancho Milagro is a place of joy where children will experience a safe, secure and relational base. They will be free to explore the world, engage their surroundings, learn healthy response techniques and gain coping skills to course correct and grow in curiosity and discovery.
Kids see success when encouraged with redirection, seeing another option. Redirection provides the mind with a path to grow instead of staying stuck in what seems like failure and hopelessness. Setting limits while offering another way to go is a powerful way to maintain connection with a child.
We are created for joy. A day at the ranch will provide this type of learning and healing. “There is no domain that the creative power of joy given the right nutrients in the soil cannot grow!”
Lisa Hansen believes there is a hidden pandemic destroying our youth. She is convinced that the startling surge in suicide of youth and young adults is linked to the current child exploitation epidemic. She faced her own dilemma as she was stuck in anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts due to her childhood trauma of sexual abuse, sex trafficking and domestic abuse. Drawing from her experience and conquering the shame that kept her isolated, she became an advocate for the oppressed. For over twenty years, her mission has been to abolish child sexual exploitation through extraordinary outreach and straightforward prevention education for youth.
She is the Founder and Education Director for Power Over Predators and primary author of the, Power Over Predators program. Survivor lead and peer to peer courses that address goal setting, smart relationships, abuse prevention, child trafficking, Internet safety, sexting & sextortion, cyberbullying, harmful images, and suicide prevention. Power Over Predators is being used nationally to teach children how to protect themselves from abuse and give them hope for a free and healthy future.
Lisa recently wrote and produced an eight-part video series for parents titled, How to Be a Rock Star Parent. A vulnerable sequence of stories to be used as a tool for parents to protect their children. Adults are equipped to invite youth into meaningful conversation and build supportive relationships at home.
The prevention work being done in Arizona has been recognized as a successful model at the national level, prompting invitations to the White House and Capitol. Lisa, along with her father, Jerry Peyton, have been asked to speak into how the government can better support efforts against child sex trafficking as stakeholders on the President’s Interagency Task Force to combat human trafficking.
Lisa is an effective communicator, inspiring changemaker and has personally spoken to nearly 50,000 middle and high school students. Individuals learn how to stop the cycle of abuse and get the appropriate help needed. They are also motivated to advocate for others and take the steps to pursue and achieve their personal goals.
Lisa believes our children are our most vulnerable and valuable treasure—begging to be cherished and protected. She is convinced that every life matters and every story deserves the chance for a happy ending.
