A CENTER FOR 21ST CENTURY LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT:
Where the wisdom of the past, present, and future of leadership comes together for the dignity and benefit of all.
Your Donations are Tax Deductible.
October 2022
First Nature Notes: We Got a Taste of Fall Weather!
Dear Friends of First Nature Foundation,
We are proud to announce that the data from our second cohort of the Horse Wisdom for Heroes program shows that the veteran’s stress and resilience levels were improved by approximately 30% from the beginning of the program to the end of it. We are so grateful to our staff and volunteers, and to The Transition House in Saint Cloud, Florida, for helping us make this program happen.
We are currently working with our third cohort of veterans in the program. These are men who are suffering from PTSD in addition to substance abuse and mental and behavioral health issues; they are often homeless, as well. The Transition House is a wonderful organization that does great work with this population, and our arrangement is that they provide transportation and a mental health professional for the duration of each of 6 sessions. We provide all programming and other costs associated with the program. We are 1/3 of the way through with our 3rd cohort and are looking for sponsors and donors to help us mitigate these costs for the veterans.
We also have some Horseplay for Leaders programming scheduled for the coming months. These programs are for groups or organizations that are looking to enhance their people’s leadership skills in the areas of communication, teamwork, using conflict productively, and emotional intelligence. These playshop series are fun, engaging, experiential, novel, and effective. We work with small businesses, corporate audiences, non-profits, local and regional governments, houses of worship, and other groups. Our program costs are very reasonable.
Know of an organization that might be interested or any groups or experts who might want to run a program or two at the ranch? Please email kerul@firstnaturefoundation.org or pass this info on to those you believe would be interested.
Our last newsletter was published during Hurricane Ian. While our pastures were flooded for a few days, and we had some damage, the pastures dried and the damage fortunately wasn’t structural. It was more just a hassle and additional expense, and we are grateful that we didn’t incur worse effects. It was nice to have a few days of some cooler weather following the storm, though!
And actually, our facility is looking really well-groomed these days, as we have a new groundskeeper, Dylan Boyles, who has been working hard at the ranch taking care of the grounds and making progress on a number of projects that we had put off for some time with the lack of help.
Did you miss our wine tasting fundraiser earlier in the summer year? You’ll have a brand new opportunity to sample wines, fun foods, and help us raise funds for the foundation, as we are scheduling our next wine tasting to coincide with the week around Valentine’s Day in 2023. Stay tuned for dates and registration information.
We continue our search for new board members! If you have some financial expertise to help guide our budgeting decisions, or are well-connected in our region to help create more visibility for our nonprofit, we would LOVE to talk to you! Just reply to this email. Or pass on this If this video to the person you think might be interested.
As always, I’m happy to offer private individual tours. It's the best way to understand our vision and to see it in person! Please share my information with those you think might be interested: kerul@firstnaturefoundation.org or message me on Facebook to set up a time.
Take care and stay healthy!
Kerul and Crew
First Nature Ranch / First Nature Foundation
“Where the past, present, and future of leadership come together for the dignity and benefit of all.”
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