Background
We want to share our story. We’re Kent and Kerry Jossie, the founders of Skylight Respite Ranch. We have twelve children, six biological and six adopted out of foster care. Our adopted children ranged in age from 4-14 when they joined the family, and they came with an “alphabet soup” of diagnoses—RAD, ADHD, PTSD, and more. There were days when we were exhausted and frustrated and didn’t know where to turn for help with our kids’ special needs. We desperately needed respite just to breathe and to know what we should do in the future.
During this time of struggle to find resources, Kent's co-worker sent him an email about a book entitled "Beyond Consequences, Logic, and Control," by B. Bryan Post and Heather Forbes. We ordered the book, and a whole new world of understanding opened up to us.
We have since attended seminars around the country learning more about love-based methods of raising children who have experienced trauma, as taught by B. Bryan Post, Heather Forbes, Dr. Bruce Perry, Karyn Purvis, and others. They have helped us understand our children’s challenging behaviors and how to manage them.
But respite care during the hardest times was very difficult to find. From this challenge was born the idea of Skylight Respite Ranch. SRR is a licensed respite home on our 80-acre ranch where stressed-out parents can bring their children for a few days of respite. The children will participate in wholesome activities at the ranch. Parents will attend love-based parenting classes and then have some free time so when children return home everyone is refreshed and ready to tackle life's challenges with a new perspective.
We sincerely hope to help prevent out of home placements and adoption disruptions by providing respite care and education for adoptive families. Our main objective is to help families heal and thrive. The Jossie children now range in age from mid-twenties to mid-thirties and have blessed us with 19 beautiful grandchildren. We saw dramatic improvement in our children's behavior and overall wellbeing after implementing the new parenting principles we learned. We believe many families will also experience healing and positive results.
