WINCHESTER—For years, longtime Clark County educator Judy Huls Singleton has dreamed of helping hurting children in need through foster care. She made a promise to her father to one day utilize their Winchester family farm in a way that benefits kids.

Thanks to her 130-acre land donation to Sunrise Children’s Services, her God-given vision for the Solid Rock Children’s Ranch is becoming a reality.

A sign for the Solid Rock Children’s Ranch was erected recently in Winchester, where the community of care will be established to provide safe and loving homes that keep at-risk sibling groups together in a foster care setting.

“Solid Rock Children’s Ranch will be an incredibly life-changing experience for both the kids and foster parents, who will be surrounded by a strong support system ready to serve with time, talents, compassion, and love,” said Sunrise President Dale Suttles.

“We oftentimes see sibling groups broken apart physically and emotionally by separate foster care placements because homes aren’t large enough to house them together,” Suttles said. “Sunrise is incredibly grateful to Ms. Singleton for this gift of compassion that addresses this particular challenge head on and extends our work further throughout Kentucky to help make hurting kids whole again while keeping family members together.”

Sunrise’s plan is to develop a 15-acre area of the farm in two phases entails construction of two five-bedroom homes. The children’s ranch will integrate foster families into a functional, working 130-acre farm that uses agricultural revenue, animal/plant therapies, and third-party reimbursements to support the innovative program.

“This is not only a generous donation to Sunrise, but an incredible gift to Clark County that brings a forward-thinking child welfare model to this area of the state,” said Randy Greene, special grants coordinator for Sunrise Children’s Services. “Since Judy made this sacrificial gift to our ministry, we’ve been sharing the Solid Rock vision and her story with churches and other groups throughout the region to generate financial support for the project.”

Per an agreement with Sunrise, Ms. Singleton will continue to live in her homeplace on the farm and also has use of the buildings around it for her lifetime. As a Sunrise-certified respite care provider, she will play a vital role in assisting with the day-to-day activities of the families and children. Having been a teacher, she has experience working with children and will serve the new Sunrise community in a caretaker role, providing support and guidance as needed. (WR)