We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Virginia Burroughs a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Virginia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Redemption Ranch is a non-profit in Kern County and our mission is to build animal-assisted trauma therapy programs and a service dog program to serve military, first responder, and civilian trauma survivors using rescued Pit-Bull type dogs and mustang horses. Our ultimate goal is a facility where all of our animals are housed and from which we can run our animal therapy programs.
Redemption Ranch is inspired by my faith and my love for animals. It is the result of rededicating myself to my faith 8 years ago and being open to God’s path for my life rather than my own. As a result, in 2019, Redemption Ranch was born. On the animal side of things, I had fallen in love with Pit Bull type dogs after adopting two of my own and since they are some of the most abused and mistreated dogs, not to mention they have the highest euthanasia rates in shelters, it was a no-brainer that they would be the dogs we rescued to use in our programs. Mustang horses are another animal I have a passion for, as my first horse was a mustang. They are also in need of a purpose, and thus were my choice of equine for our equine therapy program.
I have always had huge respect and appreciation for those who serve, whether they be military or first responder, so being able to assist in their trauma healing by serving them through our animal programs is humbling and an honor. Animals have a huge capacity to facilitate healing, so anyone who suffers from severe trauma/PTSD can be served through our programs, and there are plenty of people suffering from past abuse, violence, addiction, or loss that can benefit from animal therapy.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well, as previously stated, my life took an unexpected turn, and I had to re-evaluate my career path and purpose. Once I opened myself up to my faith and what God may want for my life rather than what I thought I wanted for my life, I was given the vision for Redemption Ranch. I took a literal leap of faith and launched Redemption Ranch in 2019, and we became a legal 501(c)(3) non-profit a year later!
The purpose of Redemption Ranch is to provide animal-assisted trauma therapy to those struggling with severe trauma/PTSD. We are building both dog and equine therapy programs and currently conduct therapy dog visits to three senior residential facilities and a veterans’ group that meets weekly. In the future, we plan to also develop a PTSD service dog program and once we have a facility of our own, our animal therapy programs will be conducted on site. Future plans include working in conjunction with clients’ mental health professionals to ensure that animal therapy is complementing the traditional therapy that clients are receiving, in an effort to ensure best possible outcomes.
I am currently completing an Animal Assisted Therapy Certificate Program through Husson University in Maine. This program will provide us with further knowledge of current research, best practices, program development, and animal welfare knowledge to inform our program development going forward. It will also provide a level of legitimacy to our entire organization that will promote confidence in the people we wish to serve.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Building a non-profit (which is essentially like building a business) is HARD. And I do not have a business partner or a spouse, so the leadership of Redemption Ranch has fallen squarely on my shoulders. Don’t get me wrong, I have a wonderful team, but at the end of the day the hard decisions and responsibility are mine and that can be a heavy load. Couple that with the fact that things often don’t happen when or how I would like, it feels like we often take two steps forward and one step back, finding significant funding sources is a huge challenge, and on and on, and it’s easy to see why so many people either give up on a business early on, or don’t try starting one to begin with. It certainly is not for the faint of heart and continually tests my grit and determination to see our mission come fully to fruition. The entire process is certainly character building and will either make or break you!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My pivot in life – and career – is what brought me to founding Redemption Ranch. My career path was previously in academia. I lived on the Central Coast of California for about 10 years and had completed my Master’s Degree with the goal of moving onto my PhD next. I lived with my boyfriend and was teaching at Hancock College in Santa Maria and Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. My goal was to earn my PhD and become a professor at Cal Poly (my alma mater). Then everything came crashing down. My boyfriend and I split up and after months of searching I could not find a place to live where I could keep my dogs on the Central Coast. I finally made the difficult decision to move back to Bakersfield (my hometown) where, with the help of my parents, I was able to buy a house. Initially, I thought I might take a couple years to regroup and find a way to move back to the Coast, but God showed me a different plan and I ended up starting Redemption Ranch instead. I still teach classes part time for our local community college (Bakersfield College), but I am all-in for building Redemption Ranch. It is my purpose and passion.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.redemptionranchca.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redemption_ranch_ca/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redemptionranchca
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@redemptionranch