MADISON Co. (WTXL) - Founded in 1908, the Madison County Youth Ranch has been on a mission to help children across the area since the beginning.
The Madison Youth Ranch is a program with the Florida United Methodist Children's Home. The organization has multiple locations across the state providing housing to children in need.
Ruth Moore, the Ranch Director, explains, "The purpose of the ranch is to serve children that are being abused, neglected, or abandoned, it's a residential group home, and we have children age 6 to 17."
Moore says this program gives children a better chance at life and a comfortable and positive environment to grow up in, "It's just like their home, they go to school, they go to church, their part of the community."
Each dormitory provides kids with their own room and there is also a media and game area, computer stations, and fully equipped kitchen and laundry room.
Moore says she has been doing this for years and want to continue helping the youth in the area succeed in life both socially and professionally.
"We just feel like that's what God has called us to do, to care for children and young people and those who don't have a home and don't have a place, that need a place where they can feel loved and feel accepted and feel safe," says Moore.
According to Moore, almost 95% of the children at the ranch have shown improvement in their behaviors, she says there has never been anything like this offered to children in Madison County before and now they have a place to run to if they ever need it.
