Hope and Healing Where Nurture Meets Nature. How Students Succeed at Christian Encounter.

Nate Boyd: [00:00:00] Yes, we are a faith based program. The, the students are each encouraged to pursue and discover for themselves, you know, to do some searching, do some research, explore their beliefs, explore doubts that they have, explore the fundamentals of the world. And that's been a really neat thing to watch.

Jeff Holden: Hi, I'm Jeff Holden. Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Our purpose and passion. is to highlight a non profit organization in each weekly episode, giving that organization an opportunity to tell their story, in their words, to better inform and educate the respective communities they serve, as well as provide one more tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

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I look forward to more engagement with you as we continue to grow and better serve our nonprofit community. Thanks. The teenage years are a tough time. Hormones. Peer influence. Substance trials and tribulations. Relationships. Parents. Family. School. The list goes on. Unfortunately, students fall through the cracks.

Those cracks can be chasms, and when you add familial challenges like substance use, abuse and neglect, Trauma. How is one to really know which direction to turn? Emotionally, mentally, physically, there's so much going on that sometimes the best answer is to leave for the confines of a more conducive environment, to reset, re evaluate, and then return to a fresh start.

There [00:03:00] are many ways this can take place and we're going to have a discussion with an organization that exercises one of those ways with their program. And yes, this one happens to be faith based. I'll be speaking with Nate Boyd, Executive Director, and Zach Malik, Outreach Pastor of Christian Encounter Ranch.

And lest one thinks this is a recent program to support the growing needs of so many students, they've actually been doing their thing for over 50 years in the foothills just outside of Grass Valley. Nate Boyd, Zach Malik, and Zach Malik. Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Zach Malech: Thank you. It's great to be here.

Thank you so much for having us. What an honor. An opportunity. And 

Jeff Holden: we're happy to 

Zach Malech: have you here. 

Jeff Holden: You know, let's jump right in. As a region, we're plagued with many issues and, you know, they're simply a result of being humans and how we deal with those issues is really what separates us from nature, you know, in its most pure form.

On your website, you identify your constituents, the community you serve as coming from backgrounds of substance abuse, abandonment. [00:04:00] Neglect and many forms of abuse and trauma. Tell me more about that statement because I think it's really significant. 

Nate Boyd: Yeah, well, it's a, it's a tough world for teens right now.

There's just a lot of different things they're facing in high school. A lot of families are experiencing difficulties at home. If you look at statistics for domestic abuse, domestic violence, there's just, it's not a pretty picture and teens are caught in the crosshairs on multiple issues here. We get to be this place that's a refuge for them.

They can escape from that. Maybe there's danger at home. You know, some of the stories of students who've come here, it's just they, they're not thriving. They're stuck, they don't feel like they're being able to be successful at school, and they just don't really see a lot of future or hope. Other situations are kind of dramatic, and, and they're worried they're not going to live that long.

It's amazing to me how many students have said, I didn't, I didn't think I would live to be 18. They really believed that they wouldn't live to be 18 and I hear that and I think that's awful. [00:05:00] Like that's just awful. So we get students from this vast range of different experiences and then we get to welcome them in and create this nurturing environment for them to choose something different.

Jeff Holden: It's interesting you say that. We had a lady in, Stacey Anderson from Pro Youth, another youth organization that serves disadvantaged and children at risk, students at risk. Awesome. With a similar situation by junior year in high school, the students outlook on their future was pessimistic. They just didn't have any optimism whatsoever.

And that is amazing, isn't it? 

Nate Boyd: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: How long have you been there again, Nate? 

Nate Boyd: I came as an intern in 2010. So I was living, the interns live in the dorms with the students. They're walking through the day with them, coaching them, tutoring them in their school classes. It's amazing. teach them soft vocational skills, all kinds of stuff.

So I came as an intern in 2010 and then transitioned to staff that year and I've been there ever since. 

Jeff Holden: When did you take over the executive director [00:06:00] leadership? 

Nate Boyd: Seven years ago yesterday. 

Jeff Holden: Okay, so of that 14 years, seven of them have been as the leader of the organization. 

Nate Boyd: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: In those 14 years, let's say, as we seem to be so surprised at the outlook of what these students are saying to us, what do you recall seven, eight, ten years ago?

What did it look like? What was that outlook from the students at the time? Do you remember? 

Nate Boyd: Well, It doesn't change a ton for us because we're always working with the same population. So 10 years ago, 14 years ago, perhaps there were fewer students, fewer teens in this situation, but we were still getting the ones that were in that spot.

So in some sense, it doesn't change a ton. I think the, you know, we're now having students come to the ranch who have been raised digitally. They have the cell phone tutor, the cell phone babysitter, the cell phone parent. That is a change that we have seen. And also the increase in [00:07:00] medication too. More and more often when there's a difficulty at home or at school, the psychiatrist is the go to response.

Let's try meds. Let's try meds until something seems to work. And sometimes that's exactly what's needed. Sometimes that just makes things even more complicated and more difficult. 

Jeff Holden: Mm hmm. How does the community, the people you serve, Come to know of the program, especially out in the middle of nowhere.

You're you're way up in grass valley 

Nate Boyd: Yeah, we have four ponds and acreage of woods and forest. Yeah, did I see 

Jeff Holden: 86 acres? Yeah. Yep That's a massive massive parcel. 

Nate Boyd: It is. Yeah, it is good Sometimes it feels like wow, this is a lot of extra land to try to maintain But then it creates this like this buffer zone.

It's just this like Yeah. This refuge, it's not like you look out the window and you see the next door neighbor. It's just this. Right. You want to speak to that Zach? It just feels peaceful. Yeah. 

Zach Malech: I mean, if you ever get a chance to come to the property, man, I would love to show you around. But we're right off the highway.

You come in on [00:08:00] 49, you get off the highway within five minutes. You're at our property. We're 15 minutes from the closest target. But if you go to the property, get out of your car, shut the door, and just take a breath. it's really quiet. I mean surprisingly you hear birds chirping and animals moving. I think there's the occasional car but really there are certain parts of the property that are really peaceful and I think that's a big part of it, right?

Nate Boyd: People have been hungering for that, you know, most of the teens they've needed. 

Zach Malech: Right. I think that's, that's part of the, that's probably part of the uncomfortableness is you come out of a sit, whether it's an actual busy city with things hustling around you, or it's just the state of your, your soul, your inside is just swirling around.

You can't tell which one's which, right? And so you just feel like it's, it's chaos and you don't know. And then you come to a place that's quiet. Suddenly the backdrop of the, you know, the backdrop is now peace and it becomes more clear that there's stuff internally that. That means that I get to 

Jeff Holden: sift through.

And I would imagine it allows you to focus a lot more because you [00:09:00] don't have the distraction of the urban ocean, the noise, the sirens, the cars, the Cell phones. Distractions, yes. And nights have to be beautiful because I'm sure it's a much clearer sky than we have down in, you know, the, uh, the city where we have, you know, just light pollution.

Yeah. 

Nate Boyd: You, you asked where Where, yeah. How do they 

Jeff Holden: find you? 

Nate Boyd: Yeah. Online, of course, is a huge thing now. But it's funny. I was actually just looking at our, our current student group and how each one heard about the ranch just the other day. And, and most of this group was word of mouth. Yeah. Really? The ministry opened in 1970, so.

54 years now of doing this. And so there's just former students and interns and staff all over the country. It seems like everyone who comes to the ranch is just so impacted by it that even 20 years later, someone comes up to you and they're sharing what's going on in their life and there's this teen that's in need.

Like, oh, you should check out Christian Encounter. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. Uh huh. Geographically, [00:10:00] where do, I'll say the majority, of your students come from? Well, 

Zach Malech: I mean, the United States for one, but other than that, since I've been there 2020 for a little over four years, I've seen Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Michigan, Hawaii.

So really all over. And we've had, um, some of our interns are, you know, come from even beyond the United States at times. 

Jeff Holden: Would you say the majority are somewhat backyard? 

Nate Boyd: It's funny, at one point, they were all from Grass Valley, where Christian Encounter is. 

Jeff Holden: Sure. 

Nate Boyd: That was the first time in 13, that was a year ago or so, first time I'd ever seen that.

I'd say Oh, just recently, 

Jeff Holden: like just last year? 

Nate Boyd: Yeah, or maybe that was two years ago. I'd say half of them are from California and half of them aren't, just on average. 

Zach Malech: Okay. Which seems, you know, to me, wild when I go to my county fairs or Placer or, you know, around Sacramento, it just feels like, how, there's just around here, there's so many in need and yet, They're coming from far away, they're flying in.[00:11:00] 

Jeff Holden: The student population is how big? How many students can you accommodate at any given point in time on the ranch? 

Nate Boyd: Our max is 16. And it's funny because several years back we, we brought in a 17th and 16 seems like an arbitrary number. Doesn't it? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So you 

Jeff Holden: add one, you lose one, right? 

Nate Boyd: Yeah. But we bumped up to 17 and I felt the difference.

It felt like somebody might be slipping through the cracks now and I'm not sure who. Yeah. And that's, that's a deal breaker for us, like, that can't happen. That's been the experience of these young people in their lives and we can't do that here. And so 16 is, is the cap. And, you know, we often will have fewer than that.

And the number kind of depends on what that group needs. If it feels like, all right, we can bring in a couple more students, or let's just sit here for a little bit and let everybody settle in a bit more and do some growing before we bring in more from outside. 

Jeff Holden: How about the duration? What's the average duration of a [00:12:00] student's time at the ranch?

Zach Malech: Yeah, it varies. We generally say like when I'm out talking about the ranch, you know, just trying to get visibility and communicating what we're, what we're doing and how we can support other local organizations. We say about nine months to two years. Yeah, not much the two years really depends on where they're coming from and where they're trying to get to Personal goals goals that they've set by themselves with their parents if they have parental support Because our age range is 16 to 21 You know, if somebody's coming at 16 and they really don't have a healthy situation to go back to, then the two years is what's required so that we can have them in our community until they're 18.

And then we have tons of options in order to launch them into their first step of an independent life. You know, supported by our community and so, but some, you know, reunification is, is really the goal if, if at all possible to, to, to create a healthy family, you know, working with the students and even family therapy at the end there to try to reunify and reunite them into a family unit.[00:13:00] 

if at all possible and we've had those situations before where parents are just needing a little extra help and we get to step into that just with with the gratitude to be a part of that and then sometimes it's just nine months to a year and they graduate high school and we feel good about where they're at and their parents feel good about where they're at and they feel good about where they're at and 

Nate Boyd: And underneath this is a really cool thing about the organization, which is we can tailor to the individual.

We don't have a hundred kids. We have maximum 16. And so we can really do what we need to, to meet the individual needs. Schools these days, you know, individual education plans, IEPs are becoming more popular. And 

Jeff Holden: IEPs for the benefit of the listener who doesn't know what that is. 

Nate Boyd: Yeah. Individual education plan.

Yeah. Thank 

Jeff Holden: you. 

Nate Boyd: The ranch is basically. 

Jeff Holden: He's one big IEP. He's one big IEP. 

Nate Boyd: It's like, we can build the whole thing to meet the needs of each individual that's there right now. And so if that's nine months, if that's two years, it's just cool to be able to cater so much to that individual. 

Jeff Holden: So, [00:14:00] what does it look like from a student teacher relationship?

And I'm imagining relatively low. 

Nate Boyd: Yeah. So, you mean you're talking about the actual high school we have on property? Correct. Yeah. In the high school. Well, I mean, in a typical high school, what is it, like 20 students, 24 students, something like that? To a teacher. To a classroom. More than 

Jeff Holden: that, depending on the school.

Nate Boyd: Yeah. Well, we have, it's basically one to five. And then there's tutoring help also, so there's one on one on top of that. And so, I mean, so many students come in and they have not been successful in high school. And then once they're off of drugs and in a nurturing community with people that care about them in a tight environment like that, come to find out they're brilliant.

Maybe they have all D's and F's, but it's not because they aren't smart. It's because of these outside circumstances they had no control over. 

Jeff Holden: In the course, or in the curriculum, I should say, what does that curriculum look like? [00:15:00] 

Nate Boyd: For the school? 

Jeff Holden: Yes. 

Nate Boyd: Well, you know, the teachers take a pretty eclectic approach that, you know, they'll pull curriculum from here and from there and really try to find what fits well in that small environment that, you know, because there's stuff that you can do when you have five students that you can't do if you have 30.

And so there's more hands on, you know, more projects, things like that. And each individual, each student gets more face time in the classroom. And so there's just more engagement over the different topics that are being discussed. Yeah, like the curriculum really varies quite a bit when you see Zach. 

Zach Malech: Yeah, totally.

Yeah. I was. Myself was homeschooled. School is not an easy thing for me to get through. It wasn't built to sit in a classroom with 24 kids, and so I was homeschooled. And so one of the things I noticed when I, when I went over to the school, a lot of what I, what I saw there was a lot of really cool blend of, you know, Mm-Hmm.

Just high level expectation of education, but also the way they went about education was so tailored to each person. It felt like they were getting [00:16:00] both the best of both worlds, really, 

Jeff Holden: Nate, not to. skirt over it. I want to address the fact, I mean, it's called Christian Encounter. So there is a faith based element in the classroom.

Nate Boyd: Yeah, yeah. Is that 

Jeff Holden: theology? What does that look like? Where does that come into play? 

Nate Boyd: Well, okay. So yes, faith based organization. And so students are encouraged to explore faith and, and do some, do some thinking. We get kids who come from Christian backgrounds. You know, they see Christian Encounter, they think, oh, that's a good fit for me.

Then we get other, young people who, are non Christians. Maybe they've had really bad experiences with Christianity. I was just talking with a student last week who had her mom had a live in boyfriend who tried to force her to become a Christian. And so we get young people who've been traumatized, by Christians or in the name of Christianity.

It's horrific to see those things. And it's wonderful to get to show them something different and to try to help them heal from those [00:17:00] wounds. So yes, we are a faith based program. The, the students are each encouraged to pursue and discover for themselves, you know, to do some searching, do some research, explore their beliefs, explore doubts that they have, explore.

The fundamentals of the world, and that's been a really neat thing to watch students. And so some students love that aspect of the program. Others don't want to become Christians, don't want to engage with that part of the program, and that's fine. It's 

Jeff Holden: You're answering the question for me, I was going to ask how many people actually, or how many students actually really do engage and, and what does that graduation rate look like on near the end of their two years, or their, their, their fourth year of curriculum overall?

Yeah. 

Nate Boyd: Yeah. Let's see. There's a few different questions in there. The, the students, well, we have two different graduations. That's part of what's complicated. Okay, good, good. So we, we have a, a graduation from the school. So at a certain point they graduate from high school. We, we get to do this full [00:18:00] cap and gown ceremony.

Wonderful. Yeah. Invite the families in community come from the community. It's a big deal. It's a, it's a cool celebration and it, it represents something spectacular for them. 

Jeff Holden: Right. 

Nate Boyd: And we're all just so excited for that. So they can, they can, they can graduate from high school and they can leave, you know, if they want to wrap it up at that point and move on to something else, then they can do that.

And some students do, some students stay and they say, you know what, I'm done with this goal, this educational goal, but I have other goals as well. There's more stuff I want to do in counseling. We have licensed counselors that meet with the students. They're like, you know, there's, there's still stuff I want to work through here.

Or I want to develop my, my job skills. We have a transition house for the, the girls. And we're hoping to open one for the guys soon too. That's an exciting thing for us right now. So they can finish the program here and then go over to that transition house. Get a job, go to Sierra College, start moving toward independent living.

Jeff Holden: The [00:19:00] campus, to be clear, is a full collegiate type campus. You have dorms, the students live there. This doesn't come in and out. Once you're there, you're there to complete the goal or the objective that you entered with. And in the process of living like that, I mean, in many cases, you're younger than They might feel worse than most people of their peers because they're still at home.

They don't go to college until they're 18. When they experience a dorm. How do you find the, is it the, is the word acceptance maybe, or the assimilation of something for students that are that young, 16, 17 years old coming into a place all of a sudden I'm away from home, even though home situations can be bad.

We know sometimes that bad feels better than the alternative, right? Yeah. So they keep going back. 

Zach Malech: Yeah. I think I'll answer one of those. Yeah. If you use an example. If you've got something. I think. You know, one of those, right, [00:20:00] you talk about success rates or things like that, and I feel like for us, one of the things we have seen, and this was one of the women who have been working there since 19, like 76 or something, who still volunteers on Mondays, I get a chance to connect with her about the history and, you know, all that stuff of like, hey, what's been happening for the last 50 years here that I have no clue.

And things change, but not everything changes. And you can start to see, you know, patterns and rhythms of students and kids and, you It's, yeah, they'll, they'll, they'll be living in, we'll call it chaos, maybe a strong word, but they're unaware. It's just, this is life. You know, they don't know that it's chaos, really.

And they come, move into a place like Christian Encounter where it's, for the most part, right, peaceful and loving and of course they have to assimilate to a dorm with other kids and it's, it's hectic, but not to what they're used to. And so they come in there, but they also, there's no, They can't appreciate what the peace and the love is, and the opportunity, they just miss home.

They miss what they know, and there's a lot of fear, right? Involved in [00:21:00] highly traumatized populations are highly fearful as well, deep down. And so you put them into a new environment. Well, if the fear takes over, then they'll leave and they'll go back home. And even if they can't come back to the program because of the way they chose to leave, More times than you can, than I would have imagined, they call back.

And, because now we've created a backdrop, it's chaos to peace, they can't put it together, and they step back into chaos, and they can finally, they're just a culture shock of, oh. I now have a backdrop or something on the other end of the scale to see what could be and I can see chaos for what it is as dysfunction and I don't want this forever.

So they'll call back with a new level of buy in and say, Hey. Now, what can I do? And then we get a chance to, even when they're out of our program and they're not under our care, we're caring for them and we're finding them other places, other resources. And they go to maybe another program with full buy in and see [00:22:00] success there.

And so, it's hard to really quantify. 

Jeff Holden: I can appreciate that though because you don't realize what you're living in until you recognize or experience something different. Right. So, And especially in an abusive relationship, you know, you're there, that's the way it always has been. So, that's, everybody's family must be like that until you realize it's not.

Zach Malech: Sometimes it takes going back to then, oh, this is, you know, you can, it's easy to glamorize what you had once had and to think, view it through rose colored lenses the past until you get back into it and those are ripped off and you can see it for what it is. Uh 

Jeff Holden: huh. 

Zach Malech: The 

Jeff Holden: access, you mentioned parents a lot.

So parents are involved in some way, shape, or form in the decision for their children to go to the ranch. 

Nate Boyd: Yeah, and it varies quite a bit. Some, some students don't actually have parents involved. Maybe there's one parent, maybe there's two parents. Maybe there's a guardian. It varies. Okay. 

Jeff Holden: And 

Nate Boyd: some parents, guardians will,[00:23:00] 

So, you can go to Christian Encounter, or you can go to this sort of more military boarding school or something like that. And so then, you know, they'll look into what we are, they'll look into the other place, and they almost, well, it seems like they choose the ranch. Obviously, those are the ones that we're encountering.

And oftentimes it's because it seems more comfortable, more enjoyable than the alternative. Other times? The student is the one that discovers us and the student says that's the place I want to go. And maybe the parent isn't even involved, doesn't want them to come here sometimes. So it just, it, there's just a whole range of possibilities.

Jeff Holden: The way that the, the student gets there, and I don't mean literally the physical part of how they get there, is the parent got skin in the game? Is there a tuition? Is it a fee based service for the program? 

Zach Malech: Yeah. [00:24:00] I had a Christian encounter, thought it was an awesome place, totally radical, love it. And it wasn't until I really, that was a brash way to put it, but, and until really I had an opportunity to partner with some other parents who had a child that was needing extra care after a Christian encounter.

And. really diving head first into the inpatient therapeutic centers with Wraparound Care. There are some of them are doing great work really truly but at the end of the day they're for profit and they're about 12 to 20 grand a month. And if you can't, if you can't pay it, too bad, or your insurance can pay it until the insurance decides they don't want to pay anymore.

And it just gets really messy. And really messy. And then at some point the parents are like, I can't afford to pay for what my kid needs. And it's really disheartening. And the parents are hopeless and the kids are hopeless. So then they just live into their hopelessness and it just perpetuates the cycle.

And so what I have come to really find beautiful about Christian Encounter is we are a nonprofit and so we are self funded. There are many different ways we can talk about. But that being said, I'll have to say [00:25:00] we have a sliding scale. So we have an income based sliding scale tuition that says, you know, laid out from a starting salary of this to an ending salary of this.

You can, you can look at where you'll land on the scale. And at the end of the day, one of our core missions or one of our core, like, yeah, beliefs and statements is that we will never turn away a student due to finances. So, You know, we know that just because you make a certain amount of money doesn't mean you have this much liquid every month.

So if you're telling me you really can't or you won't, we're more committed to maybe having you lie to us and be able to help and love your child regardless. Yeah. To answer your question maybe more directly, there is some importance in having the parental skin in the game. So there's no, it really does.

And so we're not trying to like pull teeth out to get extra cents and dollars. But there's, there is some sense of if the parent has buy in, financially, they do have skin in the game and it changes the way they view us and the program and how they, all of it. And it's helpful for the, even I think [00:26:00] the student to know that their parents love them enough to pay for it.

There's a, both sides. 

Nate Boyd: And sadly, it's just not always like that. A couple years ago, there was a girl who her dad was on meth, abusive. She came to the program, paid a little bit. each month for her to be here to graduate high school. She graduated high school and did not think it was time for her to go home.

And she thought she had to though, because her dad wouldn't pay tuition anymore. And we were able to say, that's fine. You can stay. We don't need you to pay anything. In fact, we will give you money to fly home at Christmas, you know, for breaks or whatever. So that you can continue to pursue your goals for healing here.

So that is a really special way to get to operate. That's not normal, but it is special. And because that's the way the organization works, that's not just a, you know, that's not just an approach to finances for the business office. That, that's a cultural element. for the whole organization, [00:27:00] and everybody feels it.

Zach Malech: You said it's special, and it is. I, I, it seems to be essential. Because basically, if a student comes into a program that they're paying for, or insurance is paying for, at the end of the day, Somebody can pull the rug out from underneath them. And if it happens once or twice, like I saw it happen with this kid, at what point do you just say, well I'm not gonna buy in here, cause then the rug's just gonna get pulled out from under me, and I'm not gonna buy in here.

So for us to be able to look at them in the eyes and say, nobody is going to pull the rug out from under you, and have you leave here except for you. finances are not going to pull you away. Nothing will preclude you from being able to dig your feet in here and do everything you need to accomplish other than your own choices.

And so that, I mean, if you can imagine laying a foundation that can't be rattled outside of their own control is. That's how you get, I mean, you know, trauma is compounded by a lack of control. 

Jeff Holden: And lack of trust. 

Zach Malech: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: If it happens over and over and over again, eventually it's like it's going to happen again.

So [00:28:00] why am I here? Yeah. And I think that's wonderful that they don't have that fear, concern. Right. 

Zach Malech: You can, yeah, like I said, a lot of the books on trauma is like, how do you combat chronic fear? And that's one of them. You just, you know. find ways to establish trust and take away their fears. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. We started down that path of how a student gets to say, stay and it's relative to an investment of some sort, which is a perfect segue to funding as you, you touched on it.

And I get excited too, because many people who listen to the program know that I'm a cyclist, bicyclist, two wheel guy, and you've got an event, which I think is one of your biggest fundraisers of the year. Is it not? Yes, it is. So talk to us about it. 

Nate Boyd: Yeah, the Agony Ride. Oh man, it's a 24 hour cycling event and so people will sign up to ride their bike as far as they can in 24 hours.

So they ride between, it's kind of a collapsed triangle. There's these three different support stations and people will just ride that loop as long as they can. 

Jeff Holden: Until they 

Nate Boyd: drop. Until they [00:29:00] drop. Hopefully not literally. Yeah, right. So yeah, we get people who come up and ride 50 miles. They're not cyclists, but they really want to participate.

And then the record is 444 miles in 24 hours. And as a cyclist, you kind of know 

Jeff Holden: what that 

Nate Boyd: would 

Jeff Holden: mean. That's unbelievable. Yeah. And not to mention, that's a pretty decent pace. Yeah. Or at least, whomever that was started out at a really good pace, because by the end, I'm sure the pace has diminished significantly.

But nonetheless, that's, that's amazing. 

Zach Malech: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: That is amazing. 

Zach Malech: I think that's the beauty of it, right? Anywhere from literally like that one lady I was talking about in her 80s will ride her recumbent one loop, 38 miles, hang out, eat food, and that's it. I agree. I agree with that too. The athlete that's going to take it to the nth degree for, you know, something and just anywhere in between.

It's a really eclectic, unified community up there. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah, that that's amazing. 

Nate Boyd: And the students are all up there and the interns were all up there. And so a lot of students have like actually believe that nobody really loves [00:30:00] them. And sadly, if you look at the circumstances of their life, you understand how they could come to that conclusion.

It still blows my mind. It's hard to even imagine that. And yet they, they get to be up there watching these cyclists going until, I mean, obviously like it starts to hurt. long before 12 hours. So this is 24. And so there's a pretty significant level of pain happening. And the students are seeing that and they, they, those cyclists will then tell them, we're doing this for you.

You are valuable. We believe in you. It's, it's pretty wonderful. It's wonderful for me to get to be part of it. 

Jeff Holden: Sure. It's not 

Nate Boyd: just that it's impactful for students. Every time I go up there, I feel impacted by watching that kind of sacrifice. As a community, 

Zach Malech: I feel like I shouldn't say what I'm gonna say, but it's never stopped me before.

I would say obviously it's our biggest fundraiser of the year. Without it, it, it's what makes everything we do possible. Yeah. However, even if it made $0, [00:31:00] I would do it every single year. The, the emotional 'cause of the value of the kids see people, the emotional impact, impact that, that, that transpires to the students is irreplaceable.

I mean, how do you combat the lives of 16 years that you're unlovable without? 250 people saying it over and over and over again and take, it does take more than one person telling me a value. It takes an entire community doing it with words and actions. And so again, for listening, don't, don't stop giving us money, but 

Jeff Holden: yeah, 

Zach Malech: it's a, it really is like if it was free, I would do it.

Nate Boyd: It's a remarkable impact. I remember watching the lady who set the women's record for distance. In the middle of the night, she was sitting at a SAG station and just started crying. So this is the lady that has the record distance. She was sitting there crying and somebody ran over to her, what do you need?

And she just needed her chapstick, which was just beyond her reach. She just couldn't get up and get it. It was five feet away. She's setting the [00:32:00] record. She did like 370 miles or something crazy like that. And so the student grabs her the chapstick and hands it to her. And that, that kind of shows just a little bit of the like we're serving each other in our need.

And it's just a beautiful thing. 

Jeff Holden: What an amazing and unique way to raise funds for an organization. We'll be right back with more from Nate and Zach. Right after this word from the people who make this program possible. I was in the media business for over 35 years and had the great privilege of working with Runyon Saltzman, RSE, marketing, advertising, and public relations.

We collaborated on many different campaigns, but their commitment to the nonprofit sector hasn't changed since their founder Gene Runyon started the agency. Over many years and many campaigns, Runyon Saltzman has been committed to improving lives by tackling California's most challenging issues. Guided by research informed strategies and insightful, creative solutions, RSE develops innovative [00:33:00] communications campaigns that raise awareness, educate, and reduce stigma in diverse communities throughout our state and beyond.

To learn more about RSE, visit rs e. com. 

Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with CAP Trust in our Sacramento office. I specialize in working with local nonprofits and associations. Annually, we survey private and public non profit organizations across the country to better understand challenges they see in today's environment.

In our more recent survey, we heard concerns about proper board governance, mission aligned investment and how to implement alternative investments. If you would like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up scottthomasatcaptrust. com. 

Jeff Holden: I'm thrilled to have Western Health Advantage partnering with us as they do so much to support so many non profit agencies in our community.

As a truly local health plan, you'll find individual and family options, employer options, plans for CalPERS and Medicare [00:34:00] Advantage. From medical services to pharmacy, health and wellness support, as well as behavioral health care, Western Health Advantage has a plan that fits what you need. as an employer for profit or non profit business.

Individual or family, you can find more at WesternHealth. com. How about collaboration? Who are the people that you work with? Who do you see in your community, in the region, that is supportive, facilitates. Yeah. 

Nate Boyd: Well, as a faith based organization, we network real heavily with churches in the area. A lot of churches in Grasshopper.

All denominations, you see. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's a real tight, like, just fellowship of different pastors up in our area. And they're super supportive of us. It's fun to see everybody gather together, you know, you hear about all these different denominations and differences and things like that, but there's this, this unity in supporting what we're doing, which is just really cool.

And then we have different connections with [00:35:00] people involved in the CASA movement and social workers and different youth support agencies and stuff like that, but we're also wanting to develop that more. We really want to grow that and be more plugged into the different government agencies as well that, I mean, there's just a lot of people in need and we know that we can only support, we can only serve a small handful and a certain age range and all that.

And yet, We want everybody to know. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah, I would imagine just knowing the, the community at large. There's probably no lack of students for you. It's just a matter of awareness and being able to get them set up for the organization. How many people do you employ? 

Nate Boyd: We have 14 full time staff and we have our intern team.

They're not employees. There is a training program for them, a few part timers as well. 

Jeff Holden: What's the total budget look like? 

Nate Boyd: It's right around a million. 

Jeff Holden: Okay, 

Nate Boyd: so you're a 

Jeff Holden: pretty good sized organization in [00:36:00] the grand scheme of things. With the expectation, I'm sure, that if you could get to two, it would be better and, you know, that mean more services.

Let's talk about that. If money weren't an object, what would Christian Encounter Ranch look like? That's 

Nate Boyd: quite the question. Isn't that fun to think about it though? Oh man. 

Zach Malech: Oh 

Nate Boyd: man. Well, we would, we would launch our Guys Transition House, we're building toward that. We're going to do a capital campaign at the end of the year here, and a former staff member offered to sell us his house 50 percent off.

And it's, it's two miles from the ranch. So it's, it's perfect for a bedroom house. It'd be perfect for this guy's transition home. 

Jeff Holden: Now, but, but wait a minute, let's keep, let's keep some perspective on this. Two miles from 86 acres, it'd be like four and a half, five miles down the road, right? 

Nate Boyd: It's it's two miles by driving.

I'm waiting.

It's great. It's just, it's like the perfect opportunity for us. So hopefully we'll be able to [00:37:00] raise some support and, and be able to buy that house and, and 

Jeff Holden: What a deal. 

Nate Boyd: Yeah. And for it to come from a former staff member, that's just like the cherry on top. 

Zach Malech: Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like there's definitely, when we talk, no shortage of vision for the future, right?

There's interesting thing to work at a place that you wish didn't have to exist, right? Like I love what I do. But in a perfect world, I don't. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. So we hear that from everybody that sits in your chairs. 

Zach Malech: Yeah. Yeah. We 

Jeff Holden: do what we do because we know there's a need. But if we didn't have to service it, we'd feel a hell of a lot better about it.

Zach Malech: Yeah. Yeah. And yet, it seems to be kinda the opposite, right. We're just seeing. And your, uh, I think you're, You were asking like what's changed over the years and anecdotally for me, I've only been there for a little while, even after, even in the last four years, it's younger and younger. I get phone calls from people that are, Oh, my daughter's struggling with this and that and drugs and she just spent a night in jail.

I'm going to go pick her up. We need some help. She's 13. And you're like, Oh my goodness. And so definitely looking into that, but the guy's home is [00:38:00] one. And then just continuing to increase the The avenues first students in their therapeutic endeavors, right? So we have art studio, we're building up and music studios and dorm life.

You know, it just feels like the constant stream of, you have 86 acres and a lot of homes and lot of facilities. It just. It's always going to be in construction somewhere. Yeah, we could fill that place up with, yeah. And we just 

Nate Boyd: want to give them a wide array of resources and opportunities. We don't want to be a bare bones program that can help you deal with some hard things.

We want to like really set them up well and launch them, give them a broad experience base and a very rich and full life during their time here. So as many recreation opportunities as we can, as many skill sets as we can. 

Jeff Holden: And I think you might have touched on a little bit, we have a budget, obviously you're, you're living within your means.

What's the greatest need? 

Nate Boyd: You know, it's 

Jeff Holden: interesting. 

Nate Boyd: It [00:39:00] always seems like one of our big needs is visibility. So thank you again for hosting us down here. This is, this is huge. It's a way of getting more visibility. If, what we would love is, is if just the people listening right now remember. Just remember that the ranch exists because what happens is at some point in your life you encounter somebody who is a fit for the ranch and You know, they kind of pop up and they're open to receiving help for a couple weeks.

They hit a rock bottom They know they need help and they're willing to receive help But then a couple of weeks from now, some, you know, abusive boyfriend or girlfriend might come along. Or, you know, a worse drug situation or something might happen such that they're no longer in that critical juncture window where they're ready to receive help.

And so, We need, we need people to know when you encounter someone like that, know that there is a place for them. [00:40:00] And so getting out the, the word is huge for us. Of course, we always need money, you know, to, to be able to operate like that, to be able to say, Hey, it doesn't matter if you can't pay anything.

In fact, we're going to pay for your flights. That means we always need money because we're always giving it away, which is awesome, but it's, you know, it's great to, great to, you know, Be able to share that vision with people. 

Jeff Holden: How about a success story or two? Something who's, who's Come through the ranch and is now a productive member of society and it's just a great little story 

Nate Boyd: Maybe I'll take you look like you're thinking I'll do one.

I mean, it's like a Rolodex, I guess. I know that's the hardest part 

Zach Malech: Yeah, 

Nate Boyd: it's a tough question because I just you know, all these faces come to mind. It's like who'd you talk about? well last week I just talked with a Student that was in my dorm when I was an intern back in 2010 and every couple months he'll call so he's married lives in Kansas City.

He's got a couple of kids and he is part owner or like co [00:41:00] owner of a shop that repairs sprinter vans. So they do full rebuilds, lots of mechanic work and he'll call with questions about how to operate a business and how to hire and, and, and paperwork. And one of his last questions was like, how much of an emergency reserve fund should we have?

And, and every time he'll give me an update on the family. Recently, he was asking a question about church. You know, this is going on my church. I'm not really sure how I can help. What do you recommend? Like, wow, it's, it's. Just to see him continuing to walk in this path of growing in maturity, learning, serving, trying to be a society builder, trying to be a giver, not just a taker and collector.

An asset 

Jeff Holden: to the community, a true asset. 

Nate Boyd: Oh my gosh, it's amazing. It's, it's wonderful. Yeah. You should share one too. 

Zach Malech: Yeah, it's hard to, it's hard to like the, the multiplicative effect, right? And when you have somebody like that and, and you take into account their wife and their kids and their kids kids and the [00:42:00] community they're impacting, like you just, man, the, the multiple, the domino of one, one person.

Finding healing and freedom in their life. How many more does that affect? Well, we had one, you know, more in my time who came to us from far away, just spent most of his time in his bedroom, just really depressed. You know, getting out of bed was a struggle and he would want to stay in bed A, cause he just didn't have the motivation to get out.

And also bedroom was the safest spot of the house. Pretty dysfunctional. A home that he didn't feel safe in always. So by the time he got to the ranch, he was really hurting and struggling and he had he had diagnosis of the wazoo of what was wrong with him with his outburst disorders and who knows and He came to the ranch and sure enough, those all played out.

It was all like, man, yeah, totally. And but over time, again, the story of believing that nobody cared about him, he came shortly before the agony ride and he got to go to his first agony ride. And even I was kind of like at the time. New to the ranch and thought this is a lot. This is a lot to put [00:43:00] on a new kid and he went up there and Witnessed it all and when he came back, he was absent.

His worldview was absolutely shattered He had to pick up the pieces because every lie, he believed that nobody cared for him was Absolutely obliterated and he had to pick up the pieces and build a new worldview that involved care, people caring for him and he got to do that in therapy and counseling and over time it just, the domino continued to happen.

It wasn't quick. It was a slow along. He was there for two years. I would say he 

Jeff Holden: must have been a two year, 

Zach Malech: two year student. Sixteen to eighteen. And even a little bit past 18. And ended with him, you know, he lost like 100 pounds by, I mean that was, he came at 350 pounds, 16 years old. He left under 250, he was an 18 year old man.

And started dreaming about the future. And he was hesitant to leave because this was the only family he knew. And he finally, you know, it's like, You know, your time's done at home, but you're afraid to leave mom and dad. Sure. I remember the first time I got sick on my own. I wanted my mom again. And he went, he's now up in a [00:44:00] place in North, like further up North in California, and his whole thing was, I'm going to leave, go do this program to help me get more like, You know, hard life skills beyond the soft life skills we offer and then come back because this is my community.

And that was as far as he could dream and I had a phone call him a couple months ago and he was like, I think I'm going to stay here because, and he just, which to me, like, I don't care what options you're listing. He's dreaming about his future. He has hope for his future. He's going to sign up for the fire academy and do it.

And so just to hear him, like go from, I want to die. And nobody loves me too. I'm loved and I'm dreaming about my future and I'm gonna, I want to give back to society. I want to be a firefighter that helps people. I'm excited. Again, it's, it's still, we're all a story in the making, but he's still one in the making and I'm excited to see where he goes.

Jeff Holden: When it was great about that too, he's up in Northern, Northern California. We need people in the Fire Academy up there for all the reasons. 

Zach Malech: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. Totally. So that's wonderful. What a great story. [00:45:00] Totally. And he's still a young man. 

Zach Malech: Yeah. His humor, his wit all came back. You know, I think that's one of the things we see is the dichotomy of students come, And they're 16, and in some areas they act like they're 30, and in some areas act like they're 12.

Right? The, the, the maturity is so divided, but in all the wrong areas. And so what we want to see is the reversal of like, other maturities increase to the proper age, but then you can, your survival mechanisms can come down, and you can be fun again, and you can be a kid, and you can joke, and you can play.

So we kind of want to see the balancing of the, you know, we want you to be 16. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. 

Zach Malech: 30 and 12. 

Jeff Holden: Or the parent. 

Zach Malech: Oh, yeah. That's 

Jeff Holden: it. In so many cases, which I'm sure you see. 

Nate Boyd: Oh, yeah. Yeah. That makes me think of a girl who, who came, she was 16 when she got here. And eventually, it's the first day she looked through every single cabinet in the kitchen, every single drawer, just looking to see what there was, making sure there was enough food.

And she had grown up in a situation where there wasn't always enough food. [00:46:00] One time, the dad was never in the picture. Mom left for a weekend. It was just her. She was six with her three year old brother for the weekend. And she said what they had for dinner one night was Tomatoes and butter, and that was it.

So no wonder she's hyper controlling and has to know everything that's going on. Survival skills, she needed to be that way in order to live and keep her brother alive. So eventually those were things we had to help her unlearn at the ranch. The very things that kept her alive became problems for her in her growth and development.

And it's just wonderful to be part of a community that's safe, That can help her relax into that and know that it takes time, you know, she was there for two years to amazing transformations. 

Jeff Holden: If somebody's interested in getting ahold of the ranch, how do they go about, what's the best way? 

Nate Boyd: Go on the website, christiancounter.

org, [00:47:00] call us, email, the office, 

Zach Malech: text. Go ahead, give 

Jeff Holden: me a number. 

Zach Malech: 530 268 0877. You can call or text that number. Yeah, yeah. Email the office, website, all of it. 

Jeff Holden: Good. And we'll put that in the show notes as well. Yeah. And I want to address one thing that we didn't in the funding part because many people don't realize that you are not eligible for grants, whether it be federal or state grants, because of the faith based orientation of the mission.

And that makes it a little bit more challenging because an organization like yours, many that are similar, that are not faith based, do have access, there are grants, there are programs, but it doesn't preclude you from having the ability to work with other organizations that maybe are not, that can still in some way, shape, or form offset some of those expenses.

And so again, to the people who are listening, I think it's an important understanding that if the cause and the [00:48:00] purpose of what their philanthropic thought is, is towards students. That there's, there's many ways that, you know, it can be accomplished. And yeah, 

Nate Boyd: and we have, we have a scholarship fund. And so we're just always looking to replenish that scholarship fund.

Jeff Holden: Right. 

Nate Boyd: Every dollar that comes in from the Agony Ride goes straight into the scholarship fund. And every dollar goes to a student who can't pay tuition. Right. And again, that's just the, this like core part of the ministry. is we are going to make a way to get you no matter what we are going to make a way for people to be able to be here.

Jeff Holden: Do you know what the graduation rate is in terms of a percentage of the students that come through the ranch? 

Nate Boyd: We actually don't track success metrics. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. 

Nate Boyd: Very deliberately. It's a, it's a best practice thing to do and I get it and I'm trying to, I'm not trying to say other people shouldn't. The thing that we have seen is that organizations like us, boarding schools that are out there, rehabs, therapeutic places, often enough, [00:49:00] they, they have their defined success metrics, and then they only bring in people who they believe they can turn into a success.

And that's just the way, that's just what happens. And so their scope follows their metrics. That's just the, sort of the universal flow. Self serving. And if basically what we do is our counselors decide. whether or not to bring in a student. If the counselors decide, if they think they can help that the ranch can be a help to a student, then we're gonna bring him in.

And again, if money is an obstacle to that. And one One of the guys, I just remember when I was an intern. One of the guys in my room had just gotten way way into heroin. He was shooting in his arm. He was And then he got to the point where he couldn't get the needle in the blood vessel. Collapsed his veins, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Everything was collapsed. He was using his foot, his leg. He got to the point where all that he could access was in his temple. So he was shooting heroin in his temple. After he left, he still [00:50:00] smoked pot for a while. That's technically not a success story. That doesn't fit the metric of clean and sober.

And yet, my goodness. What a success. He's not on heroin. He has a family. He's on a hell attack crew. 

Zach Malech: Yeah, 

Nate Boyd: he's doing great. I don't know. Maybe he still smokes pot here or there. I don't know. Maybe he's, he's kicked it by now, but for a long time there after the program, he wouldn't be considered a success according to standard metrics.

And yet we see him on a great trajectory. He has further to go. Well, we all do. We're all on this journey. And so. Our focus is, let's move them as far down the path as we can and we know they got to keep going. And that's why we try to stay in touch with people and just keep providing support after they leave.

Jeff Holden: You know, as a leader of a faith based organization that restores youth to better understanding of self, it's such a valuable option that has to exist because without our youth, we don't have a future. Yep. And however [00:51:00] it needs to be done, however it gets done is all advantageous to our communities at large.

You know, we don't have a one size fits all. You just explained it perfectly. You know, we have all different sorts of orientations and upbringings, denominations, gender, and so many things that get either misrepresented or misunderstood that unfortunately these kids fall through the cracks. Yeah. So, What you're doing, you know, and the way that you're accepting them in so many different ways I think just benefits all of us faith based not faith based.

That's that's not relevant in the scope of what we're trying to accomplish, that you should be applauded for it. I think it's wonderful. And keep going. Let's fill those 86 acres up with another, another campus, 

Nate Boyd: you know, over time. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: So thank 

Nate Boyd: you. So thank you. Thank you very much. Really. [00:52:00] It's great to be here.

Great to talk through these things. Really appreciate it. 

Jeff Holden: Thank you guys.

podcast network. I hope you enjoyed the episode. If what you heard moved you, please reach out to that organization and do what you can to help. If you like and appreciate what we're doing to support local nonprofits, please give us a positive review, subscribe, and share. If you're a nonprofit with an interest in participating in an episode, you can reach me at jeff at hearmenowstudio.

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