Rainbow Acres

NOTE: The following feature article was written on behalf of Rainbow Acres, a faith-based community for adults with developmental disabilities. It has been shared with media outlets across the United States. All readers are welcomed to re-use it as they wish.

American Baptist Home Mission Societies gift
to Rainbow Acres makes the sun shine brighter for ranchers and their families

By Philip E. Jenks

Camp Verde, Ariz., April 10, 2013 – Pauline Guthrie, who once faced the loss of an arm because doctors thought a woman with developmental disabilities would never miss it, is grateful for each day she lives at Rainbow Acres.

Also grateful is Tony Schisler, a man with developmental disabilities in his seventies who friends say “bloomed” when he moved to Rainbow Acres.

So, too, is John Fleck, a Rainbow Acres rancher who lives “a full, rich life” since he joined the community in 1984.

What the three ranchers have in common is that they are enjoying the benefits of a recent grant from American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) that supports their residency at Rainbow Acres, a faith-based ranch style community that offers “homes with heart” for adults with developmental disabilities.

The ranch received a $50,000 grant late last year to help support the independent, non-profit facility that provides a home for more than 90 ranchers.

Rainbow Acres was founded in 1974 by an American Baptist minister, the Rev. Ralph Showers, who told ranchers, “You are created just the way God wants you to be.”

The Rev. Gary W. Wagner, an American Baptist Minister who has been president of Rainbow Acres since 1996, said the $50,000 grant from American Baptist Home Mission Societies, has had a “transformative effect” on the ranch.

The grant enhances the program and services of RainbowAcres, which are built around a “whole life concept,” Wagner says.

“It’s a Christian community with heart that empowers persons with developmental disabilities to live life to the fullest, with dignity and purpose.”

For ranchers like Pauline Guthrie, it is no exaggeration to claim Rainbow Acres has offered a life giving and life saving community.

“People have no clue how people like Pauline will be treated if there’s not someone there to be an advocate,” says Pauline’s sister Jean Kennedy of Colorado Springs, Colo.

Well-intentioned people may laugh at developmentally disabled persons or stare at them in such a way that makes them feel inferior and scorned. Even the staff of a hospital thought Pauline didn’t warrant the same level of treatment as other patients.

A car struck Pauline as she walked along a crowded street and she was rushed to an emergency room with a shattered arm.

“Pauline was told they were going to have to do emergency surgery and they needed a surgeon,” her sister Jean recalls.

“When they found out she was disabled, it became, no bed, she’s retarded, she won’t need it, amputate the arm.”

Jean immediately contacted a local legislator, who intervened. “The Lord was good,” she says. “Pauline had the surgery at Beverly Hills Cedar Sinai Hospital, performed by a level-5 trauma surgeon.”

After her hospital experience, Jean began looking for help in caring for Pauline. “I have no other family to take her,” she says. “A place like Rainbow offers a Christian, caring environment that really says all people have worth. And I have seen the other side.”

Pauline is supported in part by the grant from American Baptist Home Mission Societies.

When Jean learned about the grant, she says, “I spent the next several hours thanking God and crying tears of gratitude and praise.”

In a letter to Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III, executive director of American Baptist Home Mission Societies, Jean wrote, “I cannot in one brief note let you know the blessing that this is in our lives. Pauline has lived a very difficult life. She has often been taken advantage of, suffered abuse, been mocked and misunderstood.”

Rainbow Acres has opened doors to a new life, Jean said recently.

“What I see in Pauline is that she has grown so much since she has been at Rainbow,” Jean says. “She’s a 60 year old woman, she has grown personally, more confident, more talkative. She sang a solo at a banquet in front of 500 people. I was so amazed I kept saying to myself, you’ve got to be kidding!”

Tony Schisler, in his mid-70s, is another Rainbow Acresrancher whose life has been enhanced by the Home Mission Societies Grant.

“Tony spent most of his life, up until being accepted at Rainbow Acres, in the company of elderly family members and did not have much socialization,” says his guardian, Elaine Vallely of Cornville, Ariz.

“He has bloomed at Rainbow Acres,” says Elaine. “He is so independent now, as if a whole new person has come out. He also enjoys singing in church and anything musical. The ABHS grant was greatly appreciated and helps to let me support these special trips for this special person.”

Margie Beach, director of communication and community relations at Rainbow Acres, knows all the ranchers well and has enjoyed watching Tony flourish at the ranch.

“Tony loves participating in the Rancher Choir and enjoys activities with others here,” Margie says. “Every time I ask if he liked lunch, he grins and answers with an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’ His mornings in the Learning Center keep him engaged and his brain challenged just to the right degree.”

Tony’s cousin, who lives nearby and comes to public events at the ranch, says she is thrilled to see Tony so happy, after being so isolated for most of his life. He was well cared for, but very much alone, Margie reports.

John Fleck, known to his friends as “J.J.”, is another rancher who benefits from the Home Mission Societies’ generosity.

“He has had a full rich life due to Rainbow Acres,”according to his second cousin and guardian, Karen McKissick, of Naperville, Ill.

John’s parents are both deceased. “They both worried so for John’s care, and I believe they would be so comforted by the life provided John through Rainbow Acres,” says Karen.

The Home Mission Societies grant “has warmed our hearts and eased our pain,” Karen says. “John has a full, rich life due to Rainbow Acres. They know him well and adjust for his needs. John goes to chapel daily and church on Sundays. He loves to sing and swim.”

John “has slowed down a great deal,” Karen reports,“but he still enjoys his walks around the ranch. John starts the day in a caring, homelike setting.”

Each year, ABHMS distributes money set aside through the Olive K. Thomas Fund specifically for maintenance of homes for the elderly;Rainbow Acres’ clients range in age into their 80s.

“We’ve been seeking to use these funds to aid the most underserved of our population in general and the American Baptist family specifically. I feel particularly pleased about how these designated funds are aiding the elderly with developmental disabilities,” says Home Mission Society Executive Director Aidsand Wright-Riggins.
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For additional information about Rainbow Acres, contact Margie Beach,Director of Communication and Community Relations, 928-567-5231; or visit www.rainbowacres.com

For additional information about the American Baptist Home Mission Society, contact Ms. Susan Gottshall, Associate Executive Director, Communications, 800-222-3872 x2119; or visit www.abhms.org.

Photos by Margie Beach