Locked.
Lost.
And left, fending for themselves.
For around 4 million children in 2021, this was the reality, according to the American Society for the Positive Care of Children.
However, for some, there’s a place to go in the near-college town of Bryan.
Here lie opportunities that many of the children could’ve never expected.
A place to feel safe and loved.
To learn and grow.
A place to call home.
And this time, they won’t leave, but they can’t do it alone.
Still Creek Ranch is hosting its largest fundraising event, Boots and Bling, on Nov. 10, with proceeds helping to provide a home, private school education and counseling for children from grades 4 to 12, all the way up to adulthood, on their private ranch, with works in the making to last even longer.
Still Creek Ranch is an organization with a mission to rescue at-risk boys and girls who have suffered abuse, neglect, abandonment and sexual exploitation, or more broadly, suffering from the results of what the organization calls ACEs, or Adverse Childhood Experiences, by placing them in safe, loving, Christ-centered homes. The organization runs completely through donations by the community so that their students can attain the best possible education and home life possible.
“All we do is through private donations, business partners, community partners, churches and of course, our fundraisers,” Assistant Executive Director Chante’ Smith says. “Boots and Bling is what really sustains and propels us into the coming year. Typically, along with the dancing, dinner and auctions, we also have a student who will share their testimony at the program.”
Still Creek Ranch houses up to 32 children in their four homes.
“Our kiddos come from lots of different backgrounds, but they all typically come from crisis situations, mainly from abuse, abandonment and neglect,” Chante’ says. “We, then, work towards enacting our four core values of providing a safe home, a great education, a good work ethic and the gospel. Our mission is to take children from crisis to new creation.”
The Boots and Bling event will provide food, live music from The Texas Unlimited Band, a photobooth, raffle, silent as well as live auctions for packages and prizes, donation opportunities and more, all for $150 a ticket or $1,000 a table. All of which help Still Creek Ranch home, counsel and teach the children who they take in.
“It costs a lot just to maintain what we’re doing,” Executive Director James Inmon says. “Just the grocery bill, fuel to get them to all their games, their doctor's appointments, all that you can imagine for one kid, but times eight in each of those homes. We also have implemented a new program we want to build on.”
Unlike many similar organizations, Still Creek Ranch recently added a Transitional program that helps the newly young adults grow in independence instead of finishing the program right when the child turns 18 or graduates.
“I just started my ninth year here, and just to form the kinds of relationships that it takes for this took me a good six or seven years,” James says. “We want to show that when a kid turns 18, they can trust that we’ll take that next step with them. Because of this, we started a new Transitional Living program last year where our kids can go to college, work a trade, or get a full-time job, which allows them to slowly transition towards saving money for their own housing one day.”
This is expected to be a three-stage process. In the first stage, the new adult enters school or the workforce while still living in the same house; during stage two, they continue to live on Still Creek Ranch but independently in an apartment/cabin-style home, and in stage three, they are expected to begin living and working independently.
“The longer that we get to keep them into adulthood, the more successful they’re going to be,” James says.
Anyone who wants to help contribute to the Boots and Bling event can sign up to volunteer through their website.
“We definitely could use volunteers for helping us plan the event, secure donation packages, registration, and things like that,” Chante’ says. “On the night of the event, we will need help from set-up to clean up.”
Additionally, people and organizations are welcome to donate potential prizes and items to the cause.
“So far, we have vacation and staycation packages, a few firearms that we’re getting engraved at Burdett & Son, and we will have some hunting packages,” James says. “Aggie Athletics, [Texas A&M Football Head Coach] Jimbo [Fisher] and his assistant always help us put together a nice game day experience and tailgating package.”
Still Creek Ranch was officially established in 1988, but the story is much deeper.
“In the 70’s Flip Flippen graduated from A&M and started a pro-bono counseling service which later became Still Creek Farms out on Sandy Point Road, and then around the mid 80s, became Still Creek Ranch,” James says. “You could say we’re more like 50 years old once you add The Flippen Group.”
Through events like Boots and Bling, as well as donations, Still Creek Ranch is able to be a facility that allows children to grow into the best possible people they can be.
“We’re looking for people to come alongside us and partner with us to make a commitment for our kiddo's lives,” Chante’ says. “If we can have folks commit to pledging to give, whatever it might be for the next five years, it would allow us to really be able to forecast and plan for the future. Any dollar helps.”
