Sunshine Acres Children's Home

SUNSHINE ACRES CHILDREN’S HOME: THE MIRACLE OF THE DESERT

ARTICLE BY TIFFANY SELCHOW PHOTOS BY HAZEL LIGHTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Sunshine Acres Children’s Home started with miracles in mind. Reverend James and Vera Dingman, the founders of this small town home for unwanted children, gave their lives to children who were hurt. They placed great faith in God to provide the means for this goal to become a reality. They prayed for seventeen years, and then, in 1953, through a partnership with the Mesa Optimist Club, made a down payment on 125 acres of desert in the East Valley. A short year later, Sunshine Acres opened and began to hand out miracles and continues to do so today.

Sunshine Acres features large houses built to suggest a family home. Each houses ten boys or ten girls and are run by a house mother and father. Rooms are set up with a younger child and older child to provide responsibilities to the older children and assistance to the younger. Outside of home life, the kids have options for extracurricular activities such as music, karate, a horse program, and a livestock show team. As in a typical home situation, getting children out into the community to learn new skills, both social and physical, are essential to proper development. One would venture to say these programs might be even more critical to the children who reside at Sunshine Acres.

Lori Lewis, the Sunshine Acres livestock director for ten years, oversees the livestock show team that allows children to raise, show, and sell cattle, goats, and sheep, with the ultimate goal of showing and selling their livestock at the Maricopa County Fair. This program initially started over thirty years ago to inspire boys to work hard, continues as it provides many valuable life lessons and an outlet for energy and emotion. Children who are part of the program must meet specific criteria, including showing respect for others, maintaining academic responsibilities, and a willingness to work hard.

In April, livestock are taken to the Maricopa County Fair where they are shown and then sold by the program participants. A donor provides the funds to buy the animals up front, and the feed and equipment are purchased on the Sunshine Acres’ budget. Once the animal is sold at the county fair, the kids pay back the cost of the animal, the feed, and any medical bills. Anything over that amount goes into individual savings account for each child. Smart decisions are made by Lewis on which animals to purchase, such as high-quality heifers, to ensure the kids end up with money at the end of the program. The children are then able to leave Sunshine Acres with a savings account and are able to purchase non-essential items while living there. They can’t buy anything they want, but they can work with their house parents just like a child would work with their own parents to make smart purchasing decisions.

Prayer is a powerful tool. At Sunshine Acres, every need is met by donations. Lewis said, “If we want it, we pray for it.” Sunshine Acres is often referred to as the “miracle of the desert” because, as Lewis is quick to mention, most of the time, their prayers are answered. A building which houses livestock feed, supplies, show clothes, boots, a whiteboard, and a long table with many chairs was a donation from Texas Roadhouse. The cost of buying cattle, lambs, goats, and rabbits is all covered by donors. Ultimately, the chance to care for and raise an animal that teaches these kids a lifetime of lessons all comes from the gracious hearts of donors.

While Lewis admits she is exhausted by the time county fair rolls around, her eyes light up as she speaks about “her kids.” “When you see how much they grow in the short amount of time we’ve had them in this program, it’s just amazing,” Lewis shares. While the children definitely enjoy this program, Lewis runs a tough barn and isn’t afraid to admit that it’s not all fun and games. Pulling weeds andpicking up rocks are part of the job. Work ethic is an essential part ofthis program no matter what task you are assigned, an essential lesson one must learn for life.

Children from all backgrounds and situations, often with manypersonal issues to work through, join Lewis and her team at the livestockbarn. While all the children Lewis works with make a lasting impression,one recent graduate of her program caused Lewis to reflect, “This iswhy I keep doing this.” This child, who didn’t talk, started in the barnas her house parents required her to do an extracurricular activity.Reminiscing about this child’s growth and development over the fiveyears she was in the program brings happy tears to Lewis’ eyes. At herlast Maricopa County Fair, she received a scholarship to go to schooland is currently working on her nursing degree, which makes Lewisbeam with pride.

A quick conversation with one of the kids in the program, takingplace on a cold winter evening during a lesson on the correct way toshow her lamb, solidifies why this program is essential. Listening toher experiences in the show ring and seeing her eyes light up whenshe talked about her third-place award at the county fair and how greatthat made her feel reveals much. The children at Sunshine Acres, whomay not have had the best example of commitment from those theyshould be able to trust the most, need to learn that you have to keepgoing even when you are struggling. She said it in the simplest of terms,but the message is loud and clear: Give a child the basic necessities oflife, provide structure, safety, and love, and offer a chance to bloom,and they will. For more information on Sunshine Acres Children’s Home and to make a donation visit http://www.sunshineacres.org/.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tiffany Selchow, moonlighting as a freelance writer, works for the ranchers of Arizona by educating consumers on the many benefits of including beef in a healthy lifestyle with the Arizona Beef Council. Her horse crazy tendencies began by asking for one on her Christmas list as a young child and took her to Nelson Farms in Tucson, AZ where she rode and showed horses on a national level. That passion evolved and carried her into a life revolving around production agriculture. She lives and has taken up the role of ranch wife on the Quarter Circle U Ranch with her husband, the ranch manager, and their daughter Hayes.

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Carmen McConnel of Hazel Lights Photograph found her passion for photography while working as a farm manager at the University of Arizona. She was inspired by the unique setting of the Campbell farm and the cattle, sheep, and hogs. After receiving her Master’s in Agriculture Education from The University of Arizona, she moved to Surprise, Arizona where she works to hone her craft with a variety of subjects ranging from cattle to babies and landscapes to lovebirds. Follow her on Instagram at hazel_lights_photography.