Farm Friends
Kids Heal From Emotional Trauma With The Help Of Rescued Animals
There’s a little farm in Coconut Creek where children grieving the loss of a loved one can find healing.
Tomorrow’s Rainbow, situated on two-and-a-half-acres in west Broward County, is “guiding children back to joy” with the aid of horses, donkeys, goats and a team of equine-assisted psychotherapy professionals — along with over 200 volunteers.
“Children do their grief, not through their language, but through play and actions,” says Abby Mosher, founder, executive director and CEO of Tomorrow’s Rainbow, a nonprofit. “They heal in therapeutic play.”
Mosher started Tomorrow’s Rainbow in 2005, five years after her husband Paul was killed in a head-on collision during a family vacation. Mosher and their son, Dustin, then 7, were hospitalized. Because she had good health insurance, Mosher was able to get private therapy for her and her son. But it made her realize the lack of support there is for bereaved children, so she decided to honor Paul’s memory by nurturing their emotional well-being in an outdoor setting. She and her fiancé, Shel Cohen, who shared her vision, bought the farmland and embarked on their mission.
Most of the animals on the farm are rescued. “We’ve never purchased an animal,” says Mosher. “One of our larger horses had a career on the track as a thoroughbred.”
Each year, Tomorrow’s Rainbow combines the therapeutic benefits of horses with free grief support groups for about 500 children, teens and their families. It also offers individual therapy and specialized groups. “One of the most important things is removing the social isolation,” says Mosher, who studied at the pioneering Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon and is trained in equine-assisted growth and learning, as well as crisis response.
“When they come to support groups, they realize there are others like them. They make friends with children they can relate to and it normalizes their experience.”
Tomorrow’s Rainbow needs financial support. Maintaining a healthy horse costs $3,000 a year and $1,200 per year must be raised for each child. The charity’s “wish list” includes horse feed, bran mash, manure forks, halters, buckets, bales of hay, horse bedding, blacksmith/farrier services and other items. Donors can sponsor an animal or a child.
For information, call (954) 978-2390 or visit tomorrowsrainbow.org.