Amid horses, prayer, and community, Rainbow Acres ranchers learn to thrive
VALLEY FORGE, PA (03/28/2025)—Michelle, a rancher at Rainbow Acres, loves working with animals. An avid horseback rider, she cleans stalls, grooms the horses, and feeds them. Her favorite horses are called Rocky and Bianca. She also cares for donkeys, goats, ponies, and bunnies. In addition, she works in the kitchen at Rainbow Acres and at a local hotel where she is a housekeeper. In her spare time, she hangs out with her friends and boyfriend, Daniel. Michelle is excited about her upcoming move to independent housing on campus; she is learning to manage her finances to that end. She has been at Rainbow Acres for eleven years. Working is her favorite activity!
Kelly, also a rancher at Rainbow Acres, is a kennel technician. She loves working with dogs, cats, turtles, and horses. Like Michelle, she feeds and grooms horses and participates in Horses Apart, a riding program for riders with disabilities. Kelly also paints, knits, and weaves. She loves outings with her friends and boyfriend, Mike, in her spare time. Her favorite thing about being a rancher is that she “[doesn’t] have to feel pressure from the outside world.” She hopes to become a veterinary assistant once she completes her training.
In her spare time, Rainbow Acres rancher Kelly creates poncho-styled fashions from fabric she weaves on a handloom.
Rainbow Acres, a Christian, private-pay facility for individuals with disabilities in Camp Verde, Arizona, is a mission partner of American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS). Founded by Ralph Showers in 1974, the ranch has grown significantly, now offering 10-bedroom homes with shared bathrooms and a 2.5-day caregiver rotation. It has the capacity to house 128 residents. About two-thirds of residents receive financial assistance, including scholarships and donor support.
American Baptist institutions, including ABHMS, provide regular financial support to Rainbow Acres. Many church volunteer groups come to the ranch to work on renovation, landscaping, and recreational activities with the ranchers. Importantly, ranchers, staff, and volunteers can share meals in a communal dining space, allowing for conversation and connections.
What does a regular day routine look like for residents?
They wake up, have breakfast, and participate in a prayer circle. After that, they attend classes that meet their individual goals, with breaks for snacks and lunch. The afternoon classes follow the same routine. Evenings are free. Weekends feature more outings and individual transportation for medical appointments and activities.
Rainbow Acres aims to align its offerings with residents’ needs and requests.
“Sometimes we help them to refine their goals,” said Paul Higgins, president and chief executive officer of the organization. “[There is] a rancher who has sound sensitivity, and that led him to become rather withdrawn, because he couldn’t be in those common areas as much, and he finally learned that he could express to the staff that there were some things that weren’t working for him and that he wanted to see a change. He wanted to work towards that. And there was another house he could be in, but in order to do that, he had to show some more independence. The major challenge was that he was going to have to learn how to manage his own medications, so that he wouldn’t need the constant presence of a caregiver. Once he took that on as a goal, he accomplished it, and we were able to move him. Now he is in a setting that he appreciates a lot more, and that’s a success story, particularly because he was motivated to just say that his situation wasn’t working, whereas before he was just withdrawing. Something about being here led him to feel comfortable enough with the staff to express what he was experiencing and what he wanted, and then we were able to find a way together to make this happen.”
Ralph Showers’ vision was that Rainbow Acres would really feel like home to the residents. “And he really worked with American Baptist Churches to raise the money,” said Rev. Karen Yee, a past member of the Rainbow Acres board of trustees and pastor of the New Life Christian Fellowship, Castro Valley, California, and Iu-Mien Friendship Baptist Church, Richmond, California. “The place has a real American Baptist flavor to it. There, you see people really living out who they are, who God created them to be. People are discovering gifts and talents that they never knew they had. Parents never realized that their kid could paint, or they could ride a horse, or they could be trained to have a job in the local community. It helps develop individuals, as well as creates a community.”
For many who visit the ranch, the experience is deeply transformative. “I’ve seen how it has changed people’s lives. You think you’re going to minister to the ranchers, and you end up being transformed yourself,” added Yee.
Rev. Steve Bils, executive minister of American Baptist Churches of the Central Pacific Coast and also a former Rainbow Acres trustee, praises the expertise of the ranch’s staff and board. “One of the things that I appreciate about Rainbow Acres is that it is run in a professional and biblical manner, and the governance structure is designed to take advantage of qualified people from both clergy and laity who have input,” he said. “We have lawyers and doctors and it’s just a smart way to aggregate the people that we have throughout our American Baptist family and beyond to participate in making Rainbow as meaningful and as impactful as it has been.”
He echoes Yee’s belief that visitors always leave transformed. “I’ve never brought anyone to Rainbow Acres who later said, ‘I wish I hadn’t gone.’ All of them come away with a greater appreciation, not only for the diversity of the people that God has created but also an appreciation for the commitment and faithfulness of the staff and the volunteers who work there.”
Rainbow Acres helps bridge a yawning gap in the provision of services for developmentally disabled adults. The crisis is driven by several factors, including a lack of affordable, accessible housing, long waiting lists for Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services, and staffing shortages among direct support professionals. As of 2024, 40 states have waiting lists for Medicaid HCBS, with over 700,000 individuals awaiting services. These waiting lists have remained relatively stable since 2016, indicating persistent unmet needs.
Rainbow Acres is one of the few places in the United States that provide a supportive and dignified living environment for developmentally disabled adults. They promote independence, personal growth, enhancing social connections and community engagement, and offer specialized care and holistic well-being. By partnering with ABHMS, you help Rainbow Acres and its residents like Michelle and Kelly thrive.
By Rev. Dr. Anna Piela, ABHMS senior writer and associate editor of The Christian Citizen
