About Respite Ranch
Christ-centered support and encouragement
for adoptive and foster parents
Adoptive parenting and foster care is uniquely riddled with hidden pasts and uncertain futures. Issues may surface right away or many years later.
Child issues — adjustment, relationship, developmental, medical, disabilities, expectations, etc.
Marital and parental issues — weariness, finances, family dynamics, stress, etc.
External issues — working with private agencies, government departments, biological parents, etc.
We know. We’re adoptive and foster parents ourselves. We can relate to the issues you live with every day, and we’ve noticed something: Many resources are provided for the children, but few specifically for the parents.
That’s where Respite Ranch comes in. We want to give you a place to retreat at no cost, allowing you time to rest and find renewal in order to care for your family best.
We cannot walk this journey alone. We want to build a place that encourages you as we point you to Christ.
Services held in North Texas welcoming all Adoptive and Foster parents from any location.
VISION
Personalized ways to make your respite meaningful
What’s respite to you?
We’re pretty sure it involves time away from your usual routine. Whether you need to negotiate a difficult time or maintain a healthy course, respite means stepping away, taking a breath, and seeking encouragement for your family’s sake.
Beyond that, respite doesn’t look the same for everybody. For some, it means a structured focus on particular issues. For others, more free time is devoted to unwinding.
Today we’re imagining ways to make respite meaningful for you, however that looks. All food and lodging will be provided at no cost for opportunities like these:
SERVICES
Couples Getaways
Escape. Reconnect. Sleep. Heal from daily battles. Draw up plans to meet challenges ahead. Enjoy each other. Regain the sense of purpose that drew you to foster care or adoption in the first place.
Adoptive/Foster Mom Retreats
Schedule a time to relax and take a break from your everyday life with fellow adoptive/foster mothers in your circle of trust. Bring your own weekend plan or we can help detail that for you. The ranch houses eight people comfortably.
Adoptive/Foster Dad Retreats
Engage with other adoptive/foster fathers in the great outdoors, with all the amenities of the great indoors as well. We can help customize the weekend to meet your goals, or your group might have your own schedule in mind.
Adoptive/Foster Family Retreats
Our plans already include facilities that are family-friendly. That means that someday we want to offer individual families or groups of families a place to interact and build memories together in a safe, beautiful setting.
THE PERFECT PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL
A Ranch House is the place where folks go to rest at the end of a long day — a haven of warmth and welcome, good food and friendly faces, wash cloths and soft beds.
That’s what we imagine for Respite Ranch, a refuge for weary people who are doing good work. We want to be a place where foster parents and adoptive parents can pull off your boots, make yourself at home, and put your labors into perspective.
Like you, we want a Ranch House to include plenty of space to breathe and unwind:
Acres of wide, open spaces
Three comfortable, well-equipped rooms with private baths
Personalized hospitality
Nourishing meals provided
Library of helpful materials
Right environment for a peaceful stay
FACILITIES
BOARD MEMBERS
Meg Sanks
Meg and her husband, Michael, are raising five children — four biological and one adopted through the foster system. Their heart for adoption began to grow shortly after their first was born in 2008. After getting licensed through an agency, they put things on hold when Meg became pregnant with their second child and continued being involved by providing respite care during her pregnancy. When the need arose for a permanent home for their son, they jumped right in with no hesitation. Through the process of placement and adoption, they realized how much care they needed for themselves, not just their son. This was hard! After meeting many others with this same care need, Meg felt the Lord leading her to serve these families. So, Respite Ranch began.
Sherry Branch
Sherry and her husband, Mike, are parents to four grown children — three of whom they fostered through a state agency then adopted. Sherry has dreamed of creating a place like Respite Ranch for many years, so was eager to join the board when Meg proposed the idea. Sherry holds down a full time job at a tax firm, but still finds plenty of time for her favorite pastimes: Cooking, sewing, and spending time with her 14 grandchildren.
Justin Bufkin
Justin and Meredith have felt led to grow their family through adoption—not once, but three times. Of their five children, two are biological, two through international adoption and recently adopted their daughter through the foster system.
Joseph Carroll
A native of Fort Worth, TX, Joe comes with a lifelong heart for fostering and foster parents. Over the last 6 years, he and his wife, Seleena, have had 18 children through their home and have adopted their sons from care. To him, Respite Ranch is an opportunity to meet a need that is critical in retaining quality foster families for children who need them the most: a way to recharge. “Being part of this board excites me because we support foster parents with a means to relax, unplug from the hustle and bustle, and take a well-deserved break. As a result, they can head back home refreshed and focused on loving this vulnerable population."