Mount Carmel Youth Ranch Helps Teens in Trouble

United States of America (Press Release) October 29, 2007 -- "Joseph" came to Mount Carmel Youth Ranch in May of 1999. He was 15 years old. He had been a model student and son, everyone's friend. In junior high he began to drink in the youth culture, mix with the wrong crowd and rebel against his parents. After being an honors student, on the soccer team, and in student government, he found himself kicked out of the public school in his ninth grade year, having been caught with a knife at school. He had become depressed and was engaged in some amount of self-mutilation. He went from being an A and B student to getting D's and F's in some subjects. With the "help" of a girl friend, he started running away and turned against his family, school authorities, and his faith. He found himself in a dark place and began to contemplate suicide with his girl friend. Joseph and his family were truly in a place of despair.
His Mother said, “We wondered where our son had gone, who had abducted him and replaced him with this imposter. We tried boarding schools and counselors, but the problems only seemed to worsen. We had heard of Mount Carmel Youth Ranch through close friends who knew the founders of Mount Carmel. We decided to try it because we thought we were going to lose our son forever.”
Mt. Carmel made a radical difference in Joseph's life. Within a matter of a month, Joseph went from being a depressed and angry young man to becoming a motivated and enthusiastic student of horses. He found a connection, a strong bond, in the animals and in nature. It triggered something powerful in Joseph that all could see early on. Through his new love of horses, riding, and the cowboy culture, Joseph grew in his confidence in himself, hope for his future, and reconciliation toward his parents. He began to take more of an active interest in others, in his faith, in school. He received mostly straight A's, graduated from high school a year early, developed a strong sense of self and of his leadership skills. He has become a man through hard work and healthy relationships. In school he became and self-motivated to study.
The benefits of Mount Carmel are not to be found in Joseph alone, but in his relationship with his family, with his parents and siblings. The experience of Mount Carmel has spilled over into Joseph's family and has provided an example of strength, hope and love to all.
His mother concludes, “We brought Joseph to Mount Carmel because we wanted our son back, and although it cost us the loss of his presence at home, we received back our son as a man whose gifts have flourished. He has had a couple of setbacks as young men on their own will, but he has stayed the course and embraced the duties that come with freedom and independence. We are incredibly proud of him and profoundly grateful to Mount Carmel for their loving and professional approach with our child and his education.”