Organization Works to Help Families

Two local charitable organizations are combining in order to provide a better service. 

Prairie Road Acres, a 16 acre property south of Interstate 70, has merged with Emmanuel Ranch. Both organizations will be housed on the Prairie Road property.

According to owner Craig Arbogast, started out as a mission house. The property housed retreats and missionaries.

"We would have service groups come stay with us that were going out to work in our community," said co-owner Sheila Arbogast.

The couple said they worked with the youth in their church and had been on missions themselves. 

"We decided to do something to help our local community," Sheila Arbogast said.

The couple housed groups looking to work in the area, cutting down on the cost of housing a group for a several-day mission.

"We had students from St. Louis, Wildwood, Grafton — some as far away as Oklahoma," she said. "They would then work around our community."

Emmanuel Ranch worked with special needs children and their families, introducing them to horses. 

"It was a Christ-centered ministry of horses helping kids," she said. "Their four horses would work with victims of abuse or special needs children and their families."

Now that the two are combining, Emmanuel Ranch (and its owners Pat and Genie Watson) are moving to the Prairie Road property. 

"We had the barn already," Craig Arbogast said. "We had used it for a meeting place but we are converting it for the horses."

The newly-merged organization hopes to be ready to host retreats and family sessions late this spring or early this summer.

Both couples are members of the same church. Both couples started their own ministries, feeling a call to action. It was just in the past few months that the idea came to them to combine their efforts.

"We had run separate ministries, but we realized it might be more effective if we combined our efforts," Craig Arbogast said. "We compliment each other really well."

Their church is behind the merger, assisting the two couples with fundraising efforts. While the church is aiding in the efforts, the Arbogasts and Watsons still continue to look for ways to fund their non-profit mission.

They are in constant need of volunteers to do work around the property, with the horses and working with families.

"There is no charge for families that want to take advantage of the service," Craig Arbogast said. "We want to work with the whole family — many other ministries just deal with the child with special needs, or the child and parent. This is for the whole family."

The Arbogasts note the high divorce rate among parents with a special needs child and the stress it can put on the family.

"This is an opportunity for kids to be kids and enjoy themselves as a family unit," said Sheila. "We want to encourage and support the whole family, letting them know that God is there with them."

For more information on the organization, call 314-494-0605 or e-mail the Arbogasts.