January 2025

"Unbridled Possibilities"

Pictured: Parker Parade

Message from the
Executive Director

Happy New Year,

2024 has been a wonderful year at Affinity Ranch. We have added new team members, grown our programs, added new programming, made new friends, and settled into our new forever home. Thank you, to everyone who has been a part of this. We simply could not do the work we do without our volunteers, donors, staff, equine partners, and of course our beloved clients.

December was full of holiday cheer. We participated in the Parker Hometown Parade. It was a beautiful day bringing more awareness to the community of our mission. We opened our doors to the community at our Holiday with Horses event. Santa and Mrs. Claus were here again this year along with our elves who walked horses around for all to see. We enjoyed so much joy watching families engage with our animals. If you missed it make sure to come next year!

Our Colorado Gives campaign is still alive. If you are looking for an extra tax deduction make sure to donate to Affinity Ranch. We still have a long way to go to reach our $50,000 goal, if you are looking for a unique gift consider donating in someone’s name, or sponsoring one of our incredible equine partners. You can be part of the Affinity Ranch mission and help to make “unbridled possibilities” a reality for more clients.

2025 is full of new possibilities for Affinity Ranch. I am excited to welcome new clients, volunteers, donors, and partners. We will continue building our current relationships and expanding our programming to better meet the needs of the community we serve.

Enjoy your holiday season with those you hold dear.

Shannon Forslund

Affinity Ranch

Executive Director

Shannon@AffinityRanch.org

Upcoming Events

January and February
Voices Unbridled Camps - see below for more information.
Our 2025 Affinity Ranch Calendar is now available to download - all of our breaks and holidays are highlighted. Click here to download.

Changes at The Ranch

Personnel Changes:

We now have a Life Coach -Jules Moriah has joined our team.
We have a new Social Media Coordinator - Tiffany Galbato
A new board member has also joined the team. Jehn (Jennifer) Jensen

Facilities:

Due to a generous Donor and great Volunteers, we now have lights on the outside of many of the buildings to help navigating the ranch facilities in the dark!

Voices Unbridled Camps

Kieva Speech Therapy and Inclusive Rhythms will be holding a series of workshops at Affinity Ranch in January and February. Voices Unbridled: AAC and Language Immersion Camps for kids between the gages of 4 and 12. You can read the flyer here and signup here

Experience connection through horse bonding, horseback riding, music, and barn activities. Meaningful opportunities to build confidence with communication, and connect with other AAC users —all supported by a team of specialists; an Assistive Technology Specialist and Speech Therapist, a Music Therapist and Teacher of the Visually Impaired, and an Equine Specialist.

December Volunteer Hours

We love our volunteers! In December, XXX people volunteered XXX hours broken out as follows:

NEED TO DO THIS STILL - 1 JAN

Barn Help: 268

Board Members: 2

General Help: 10

Horse Handler: 546

Instructor Trainee: 15

Office Work: 15

Orientation: 11

Volunteer Groups

We just want to call out our Volunteer Groups in December. These folks came out with a specific task to do, and they got it done! Thank you so much for your help around the Ranch:

Not a specific group, but THANK YOU to everyone involved in the Parker Parade and the Holiday with Horses events - we can't do this without you!
Also a big call out to Canine Companions for bringing the pups!

Have a group looking for a volunteer project? We can always use the help! Email: Volunteer@AffinityRanch.org

Parent Support Opportunities Survey

We have an opportunity to bring in a Life Coach who is certified in Equine Assisted Learning to facilitate some Caregiver Support Opportunities as well as possible sibling support in the future. Please give us your honest feedback as to interest etc.

Click here to take the Survey.

Volunteer Spotlight

Meet Gary Martinez - our Volunteer Spotlight for January.

Animal Spotlight

Meet Dusty - our Gentle Giant.

Employee Spotlight

Meet our Job Coach - Julie Mehrtens.

Ways to Donate

Do you have any of the following hanging around your house/yard/barn that you would like to get rid of? We would be more than happy to take them off your hands. Please coordinate with Jewels if you have anything you would like to drop off so we can be sure to meet you to help unload.