Candlelight Ranch lights positive path for special-needs, at-risk youth

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

Holtz, the program director at Candlelight Ranch, was leading a group of kids viewing a clear Highland Lakes sky. Free of competing lights, it revealed a wonderful tapestry of stars.

The boy, from an inner city area, looked up and pointed to a unique pattern.

“What’s that?” he asked. Holtz, following his gaze, observed it as part of the Milky Way. The boy told her he had never seen it before. At first, Holz shrugged off his statement. Being that the boy lived in the city, the light pollution probably drowned out much of the natural night sky.

“No, miss,” the boy continued. “We’re not allowed out after dark. It’s too dangerous.”

Holtz recalled the interaction during a tour of the ranch, which provides programs for at-risk and special-needs youth from 6-18 years old. The boy’s revelation showed just how important a trip to Candlelight Ranch is for many youth, even if it’s for a few hours or overnight.

“They feel safe here,” Holz said. “Out here, in nature, away from all that goes on in their typical lives — it calms them.”

Candlelight Ranch, located between Marble Falls and Lago Vista off RR 1431, provides about 140 acres of outdoor learning, challenges and programs designed to help youth overcome or better deal with their regular environments. Holtz, the staff and volunteers use a mix of nature, equine programs, canyon crawls, zip lines, arts and crafts and more to help youth learn how to work through problems or discover a path to healing.

“One of the things we do is really try to get the kids to reconnect with nature,” Holtz said. “It’s surprising how many kids come out here and have never slept outside overnight, or gone for a nature walk or just looked up at the stars at night. Nature offers such a healing power.”

With a customized approach to the programs, the ranch can serve a wide variety of youth from visually impaired, wheel-chair bound to special needs. Holtz also develops programs for kids in youth correctional programs.

“I can tailor things for the group,” she said.

Most of the organizations and schools that take advantage of Candlelight Ranch come from Austin and other major cities. But with the exception of the Phoenix Center, a Marble Falls-based program, not many Highland Lakes-area schools or organizations use the facility.

Holtz wants to change that.

“There’s still a lot of people who don’t even know we’re here,” she said.

Candlelight Ranch owes it existence to the passion to share the outdoors by Don Barr, his wife Jeri, and Randy Barr. Brothers, Don and Randy, spent many summers in the Hill Country during camp as youth. That early introduction to nature and the outdoors created a desire to share it with others. In 2000, the Barrs decided to open a part of their property — the old Turner ranch — with others in the form of Candlelight Ranch.

Jeri Barr helped direct the ranch’s focus on programs for at-risk, special-needs and chronically ill youth.

On May 5, 2008, Jeri Barr passed away, but Candlelight Ranch still reflects her love for children and the healing power of nature.

While just getting outdoors can provide healing, a trip to Candlelight Ranch isn’t just about a nature walk, though Holtz includes them in the programs. There are also several challenges that put youth outside their comfort zones.

Candlelight Ranch boasts three zip lines, including two that sail over a natural canyon. Then, there’s the canyon crawl.

Three steel cables strung across a canyon serve as a confidence builder. Trained staff hook a person into the top cable, while the individual steps onto the bottom one and holds onto the middle one.

Then, the youth makes his or her way across the canyon.

“This is really outside anything most of the kids have ever done,” Holtz said. “But when they get across to the other side, the feeling of accomplishment and confidence is just life-changing.”

While the challenge course offers great rewards, Holtz said no one is forced to do something they don’t want to. But most, even if they are scared at first, try – especially after witnessing the powerful effect it has on others.

The challenge course might offer stimulation, the real power of nature is as a healing and calming agent. Holtz leads participants on a hike that includes a path down through a cavern. Along the way, she shares insights about nature and asks the kids about things they see.

“At first, some of the kids are like, ‘This is going to be so boring,’ but once we get into the canyon, they get quiet and really begin to see things all around them. Things they’ve never seen before or just never noticed,” she said.

For some kids, it’s one of the first times they’ve been disconnected from a screen for more than a few hours (excluding sleep.) And that’s one of the the ranch’s rules: no cell phones or other similar technology devices.

Youth who get to spend the night often find themselves camped outside, or in a teepee or the treehouse.

“Most everything we have is wheelchair accessible,” Holtz said.

The ranch runs on grants and fundraisers, but it also depends a great deal on volunteers. In 2013, volunteers contributed more than 6,000 hours, which helped serve more than 1,500 children.

Along with reaching out to Highland Lakes schools and organizations that serve at-risk and special-needs youth, Holtz hopes that as people become aware of Candlelight Ranch, they’ll also want to volunteer.

The camp offers several volunteer opportunities.

“And you’re really making a big difference in some kids’ lives who may never have got this opportunity before,” Holtz said. In one of the cabins, she has a photo of a teenage boy in a wheelchair. He’s smiling. But his life has been anything but smiles as he has a terminal disease and only a few months to live.

“He had never seen the stars at night before, really looked at them,” Holtz said. “But out here, he did. He experienced so much. That’s what we’re about.”

People interested in learning more about Candlelight Ranch can go to candlelightranch.org or call (512) 323-5300. The site includes a volunteer application and other ways to help out or learn about the various programs.

daniel@thepicayune.com