At the Assurance Home, troubled teens find a new lease on life

Erin Taylor
Record Staff Writer - Roswell Daily Record
March 05, 2006

For Ron Malone, executive director of the Assurance Home, success is measured by the pictures of former residents hanging on the walls.

“The greatest successes we have are reflected in our children,” he said.

There’s Kimm, who graduated from West Texas A&M University in December with a teaching degree – and no student loans to pay back.

There’s Andrew, who, through art therapy at the home, was able to channel the grief over the loss a friend into a four month project in the friend’s honor.

And there’s John, who came to the Assurance Home as a mistreated teen with numerous problems.

Under the guidance of the staff, John was able to graduate high school, attend college and serve in the Air Force for eight years.

Now almost 40, John lives in Georgia with his wife and daughter and donates to the home on a regular basis.

“Most of our stories are success stories,” Malone said. “We have around a 90 percent rate of success.

“The thing we strive for is that they’ll grow up to be good moms and dads.”

The Assurance Home helps abused and neglected teens suffering from depression, post – traumatic stress and trust issues to take control of their lives.

Since opening its doors in 1979, the 16-acre facility has served as home for more than 1,000 boys and girls ages of 12-18. The home is decorated like just that – a home – with cushy couches, stylish furnishings and the pictures of Assurance Home “graduates” covering almost every available wall, shelf or mantle.

“If you give troubled kids a nice environment and a chance to process traumatic events, chances are they are going to get better,” Malone said.

The teens attend public schools, hold down summer jobs and are encouraged to become involved in the community.

“A lot of treatment centers isolate children from the community,” Malone said. “Ours are very involved in the community. It makes the transition into normal lives easier.”

The home has two certified therapists on staff in addition to therapy the teens receive from some four-legged friends.

In the past six years, the home has employed horses as part of its rehabilitation program. The wild mustangs are first broken of their wild ways as part of a prisoner rehabilitation program in Colorado before coming to the Assurance Home to be trained as therapeutic riding horses for disabled children.

Malone said the horses help refine the teens behavior.

“In order to be successful, they have to be conscientious about how they approach the horse,” he said. “If things aren’t going right, they learn to change their approach, just as in life.”

The Mustang Project has received national attention, with CBS’ Bill Whitacker visiting the home to produce an Eye on America segment. The program has also been spotlighted in the Albuquerque Journal, “Western Horseman Magazine” and CNN news.

In addition to the therapeutic benefits of the horsemanship program, kids also learn coping skills through a ropes course and climbing wall on the property.

“It teaches the kids how it feels to accomplish something,” Malone said. “It also teaches them about trust since someone has to hold the other end of the rope.”

The Assurance Home’s budget is right at $1 million, “which is cheap compared to how many broken lives have been changed,” Malone said.

Malone said the home receives “tremendous support from the community” as well as receiving support as a United Way agency. Couseling and treatment for the teens is often covered through Medicaid, as well.

The home got a much-needed funding boost when James Atterberry left a significant portion of his estate to the program. The money was used to open the James Ranch Youth Shelter in September 2004.

The shelter assists more than 100 teens in crisis a year. The teens are referred to the shelter by schools or law enforcement. Some stay as short as overnight. Others stay longer depending on their situation.

All of the teens recently returned from a trip to Ski Apache in Ruidoso a week ago. Malone said the teens have had more than enough bad experiences in their lives and deserved a day devoted to fun.

“One thing they lack in life is having fun. Skiing gave them a chance to learn a lot of things out there and change their opinion of themselves,” Malone said of some novice skiers.

“By the end of the day, they were all over those hills.”