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Child Innocence Equine Experiences hasn't added a story.
Dear Friend,
There is a lot of suffering in the world, but we can alleviate it by uniting and supporting youth who had adverse childhood experiences to regain their innocence and faith in their future. At this age, they are defining their identity. Helping them now avoids a life of suffering. Helping them break the suffering circle for future generations will make the world more peaceful.
The Child Innocence Equine Experiences' mission is to help youth evolve from emotional distress to becoming mindful, empowered, and confident in their future and to know how to achieve economic self-sufficiency.
I know first-hand how arduous the journey of healing can be. I endured physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Although I dedicated my life to healing my wounds and supporting others through my coaching work, it still took me a long time, and I experienced deep suffering from not feeling worthy of love. Youth need our support to start their lives right and not have to suffer.
With the help of horses, our program focuses on developing emotional well-being, self-regulation, leadership and entrepreneurship skills, as well as giving them a place to contribute and belong. Being around horses is a fun reason for youth to want to come here. They learn through experience. They do not come to be “fixed” but rather to be understood and for them to understand themselves. Horses have a powerful, calming energy and provide a mirror for what one is feeling. Horses have been used successfully to help reduce PTSD symptoms for first responders and veterans and have been used with youth as well.
"Grooming a horse can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and improve overall health." [Psychology Today, 2017]
"Being around horses can build confidence, communication skills, trust, social skills, impulse control, and also learn boundaries" [Fédération Equestre Internationale 2020].
This project is a lifelong yearning to reduce suffering. Child Innocence Equine Experiences materialized in April 2021 when we wrote the vision. Since then, we have shared the mission and received feedback. In November 2022, we took the youth to a facilitator with horses and had an excellent response. In June 2023, I moved to a beautiful equine facility in Schomberg, Ontario, Canada, and in July, we bought the program’s first horse, Amore, a calm and loving Gypsy Vanner. He is a former rescue and has the natural talent for this work.
Since then, we organized the barn, bought necessary horse supplies, cut the paddocks, and found a source for hay. We gathered the health care team for Amore: farrier, natural health practitioner and vet. We had some barn help who came to exercise and groom him.
We put together the application process for youth to take part in the program, and some have already started it. We had open houses, visitors and a few drop-in private sessions.
We are now raising funds to continue and counting on your help. This is currently a program free of charge to youth that we intend to build into a public charity in the coming years.
Once we raise the necessary funds, we will be bringing together a team of equine facilitators and support staff. We need to get two more horses as Amore is by himself. Horses are herd animals they need company to feel safe, plus the more youth comes, is better to have several horses for them to choose their favourite or to work in parallel.
Having the funds will create the capacity to allow more youth in the program and to organize ways to reach the youth in need and have them experience the transformation. Our goal is to support 100 youth to experience the horses in 2024.
With your help, we can make that happen. We will inspire youth who had adverse childhood experiences to recover their innocence, self-worth and faith in their future. We will help them see new possibilities, giving them hope and a safe place to express themselves.
Please donate and help change lives. Click the "Make A Difference" button at the top of this page. With each $1,000 donation, a youth can complete the program. This will help them recover their innocence and sense of worth and gain valuable life skills. Each $250 donation helps with a day of horse care and facility operation.
For more in-depth details, check the additional tabs on why this “Cause Is Important” and “How The Funds Impact.” If you are a business and want to sponsor the program get in touch with Irina for the sponsorship packages that also help your business increase visibility.
With any size donation, you are giving youth hope for a better future; you are giving them a chance to heal and elevate their lives. We will share regular updates here so you can see the direct impact you are making in the lives of program participants. You are making a difference.
Our grand vision is that we can eradicate child abuse in 3 generations, but we need to start now by helping youth in need. Thank you for your support!
With deep gratitude,
Irina Mihaela and Amore,
plus the team of supporters who make this program possible
Highlights
See all activity57Cause Is Important
Why is this cause important?
Someone who was abused has an unseen disability. Often, they lack emotional support, making it difficult to heal and move forward with their lives positively. Further, when these individuals display harmful behaviours such as anger, they are generally not treated with kindness, and the trauma and suffering perpetuate in a never-ending cycle.
There are three types of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. The score is from 1 to 10. Researchers found that the higher the number of ACEs adults reported from childhood, the worse their physical and mental health outcomes (e.g., heart disease, substance misuse, depression).
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Credit: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about 61% of adults had experienced at least one type of ACE, and nearly 1 in 6 said they had experienced four or more ACEs. “Children growing up with toxic stress may have difficulty forming healthy and stable relationships.” "Child abuse and neglect are common. At least 1 in 7 children have experienced child abuse or neglect in the past year [2021] in the United States. This is likely an underestimate because many cases are unreported."
According to Statistics Canada, "About three in ten Canadians have experienced childhood victimization
Results [...] found that about three in ten (27%) Canadians over age 15 have experienced childhood victimization, which includes at least one instance of physical or sexual abuse by an adult—such as a parent, other family member, friend, neighbour or other adult—before age 15."
In my strategic intervention and business coaching practice, I have met people in their 50s and 60s who were still suffering from the repercussions of adverse childhood experiences. Some underwent therapy, others did not, but all have lived a life of feeling not good enough, not deserving of kindness, batting a negative self-image, needing to people-please, and not knowing how to ask for their needs. This creates a life of frustration, heartache and suffering. Some of those people were high achievers, winning awards, but inside, they were in constant turmoil. I was one of them.
Helping youth is very important to spare them from a life of suffering. Through our program, we will help them see new possibilities, giving them hope and a safe place to belong, contribute and express themselves.
Please donate and help change lives. Click the "Make A Difference" button at the top of this page.
Your donation gives youth hope for a better future; you are giving them a chance to elevate their lives.
How The Funds Impact
How will the funds make a positive impact?
We are asking for support to offer the program to more youth and cover the operating costs. We are assembling a team of equine facilitators and support staff, getting two more horses, and organizing to reach the youth in need.
The funds are expected to be used for the following costs:
25k equine facilitators, program manager and administrative support
25k acquire 2 other Gypsy Vanner horses to complete the equine team
25k food, daily care and health care for horses
25k equipment and supplies, rental and grounds maintenance
We aim to help 100 youths in 2024. The cost comes down to 1k for each.
Although we are not a registered charity, we will work toward this goal in the next couple of years. For now, Child Innocence Equine Experiences is run as a program under the umbrella of Entrepreneur Enlightenment Inc. We will balance expenses and revenues and reinvest any extra funds to offer more programs to more people.
So far, Irina volunteered her time to this project without any compensation. Her personal investment well exceeds 200k.
Right now, we are very grateful to raise the necessary funds so we can confidently hire the necessary resources and offer the program to more youth in need. We will be able to generate some revenue by offering equine experiences to adults or programs through registered charities.
With your help, we can inspire youth who had adverse childhood experiences to recover their innocence, self-worth and faith in their future early on so they start their life right. We will help them see new possibilities and give them hope and a safe place to belong, contribute and express themselves.
Please donate and help change lives. Click the "Make A Difference" button at the top of this page.
Donate $1,000 to help one youth complete the program.
Donate $250 to help with the facility operation and horse care for one day.
With any size donation, you are helping youth heal and elevate their lives.
You are making a difference!
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