About Us

Hillside HOPE

Hillside HOPE Thru Hooves is a highly effective three-year-old organization using equine therapy as a tool and instrument of change. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and Equine Assisted Learning, (EAL), is committed to teaching, guiding, mentoring those in need. Not only for substance abuse, but also for children, families, military, and young adults needing social inter action, education, family reunification, independent living skills, problems with verbal and non-verbal communication, repetitive actions etc. This also works well for teams to learn better ways to communicate. EAP and EAL is based on EAGALA* techniques, and is effective for all ages (Children, Teenagers, Adults, Families, and Groups).

Hillside HOPE Thru Hooves began in the hearts of Todd & Angel Bateman long before the planning, building and training in 2006. They began operating under His Healing Heart and their 501C3 as an outreach program in October 2007; started working with family / friends and began seeing clients in spring of 2008. His Healing Heart has provided services for families in the community since 2001 and is one of several resources that now provide referrals for clients needing a different approach provided through the services of Hillside Hope.

Hillside HOPE Thru Hooves offers year-round equine-assisted therapy sessions including Workforce Support, Family Connection, Life Skill Building, and Community Connection for at-risk youth, groups, treatment centers, families, couples, and individuals. We also work with military veterans and their families to become aware of the effects of trauma, both physical and mental, and teaching coping skills, acceptance of the impact of life choices, the problems associated with the ability to adapt back into civilian life. Equine therapy assists with emotional growth and teaching of issues related to substance abuse, problems with communication, behavior, and relationships, along with teaching Life Skills such as anger management, behavior modification, creative thinking, problem solving, etc. Briefly, EAP and EAL is an emerging field in which horses are used as a tool and an instrument of change to assist for emotional growth and learning to address issues related to family, military life, substance abuse, along with problems in communication, relationships, and behavior, All Life Challenges.

It is a collaborative effort between a therapist and a certified equine specialist who work together to design sessions that require

the clients to apply certain skills while participating in activities using the horse as a tool and agent of change. EAP and EAL is not

riding or horsemanship; in fact, 90% of the activities with the horse take place on the ground, and require the participant to apply certain skills, i.e., non-verbal communication, creative thinking, and problem solving through processing feelings, behaviors, and patterns. This form of therapy has been proven to bring faster results than traditional treatment/counseling alone, as the participants learn very quickly about themselves and are able to relate the exercises they perform with the horses to real-life situations. An important part of our efforts is identifying needed services for our families, children, military people and young adults to have skills, knowledge, and resources necessary for them to thrive and survive in becoming successful adults and community members. We work with youth, individuals, military families in connecting them to resources that enhance their strengths and reduce the barriers they face; such issues as re-entry into civilian life, self esteem, addiction, employment, mental health, chemical dependency, parenting, homelessness, and reunification.

Mission and Operations of Hillside HOPE Thru Hooves

The mission of Hillside HOPE Thru Hooves is to provide a foundation of services leading to family unification and education, using the healing bond with horses to educate, mentor, and empower behavioral changes, and enhance skills for people of all ages. This therapeutic approach is a powerful tool for people of all ages and all walks of life dealing with problems related to emotional challenges, mental challenges, verbal and non-verbal communication, understanding of addictive disabilities and emotional triggers, etc.

The staff at Hillside HOPE has seen adolescents, families, individuals, couples, and veterans struggling with many issues in their lives and through the impact of their relationships with horses, learned the basics of respectful relationships, trust, empowerment, and self-confidence, along with taking things one step at a time to assist them in staying out of trouble, poverty and/or transitioning back into the mainstream of civilian life. They learn how to change their life circumstances in a positive way by changing reaction to events outside of them to making decisions based on newly-learned internal Skills.. It is a proven "alternative" program that gets excellent and fast results.

Hillside HOPE Thru Hooves Goals, 2010-2011

· Continue to identify, develop, and offer programs that meet the needs of youth and families in all aspects of life.

· Work with the whole family to identify family strengths and resolve barriers to long-term family stability.

· Continue to develop and maintain community partnerships in offering our programs and services of EAP & EAL.

· Continue to foster our organizations's relationship with others working with similiar missions.

· Continue to develop and grow our volunteer program.

Description of Current programs.

This form of therapy has been proven to bring faster results than traditional treatment/ counseling alone; the participants learn very quickly about themselves and are able to relate the exercises they perform with the horses to real-life situations. Hillside HOPE must continue to conduct these sessions to teach the Skills needed to overcome the many barriers our clients face as they try to make their lives better; to fund equipment, program materials, and educational staff needed to teach and train our clients; and for staff to oversee and assist the educators. Our EAGALA-trained equine specialists and therapist/s conduct one- and two-hour sessions with families, children and young adults, military veterans from counties across the state of Minnesota. All ethnic groups, individuals, and families will be served. Other programs are "Girls Rule", Champions. We have worked with the Ivan Sand Alternative Learning School, Timber Bay Jr, High Boys in Elk River, just to name a few.

Impact of Activities

An important part of our efforts is identifying needed services for our families, children and young adults to have skills, knowledge, and resources necessary for them to thrive and survive in becoming successful adults and community members. We work with families in connecting them to resources that enhance their strengths and reduce the barriers they face; such issues as addiction, employment, mental health, chemical dependency, parenting, homelessness, and reunification.

The families, children, and young adults we work with often face multiple barriers that interfere with reaching financial stability. In connecting families to resources, we often find limited options available. Many of the families need to address such issues as mental health, chemical dependency, parenting, limited job skills. Our proposal would allow us to provide families with a positive proven option for addressing these issues as we continue to affirm, strengthen, and celebrate the role of parents.