Lives Under Construction

"My husband and I worked here during the months of October 2023-January 2024 and we will never be able to forget our experience here. If you would like to see boys completely overworked, depressed, overwhelmed, interrogated, made to pay for things they didn't do, or receive punishment that they shouldn't, then this is the place for you. If you like to constantly prove what work you did just to get a paycheck, this is the place for you. If you like your paycheck to be incorrect each month, then you need to work here, if you like have deductions made from your check you are unaware of or did not agree to, this is the place to be. If you enjoy being accused of doing things you didn't with proof you didn't and be asked time and time again about the same thing then this is the place for you. As a staff be prepared to be under paid and over worked. They pay you a salary that doesn't meet the minimum federal guidelines and falsify time sheets saying you work only 8.5 hours a day. I will tell you firsthand I worked 10-hour shifts minimum with no OT paid. They will make you work your days off on tasks without having appropriate tools or materials for and have you live in homes covered in Black mold including the boy's dorm. You will get handwritten notes on what to do from the owner Ken Ortman in his butchered handwriting that you have to try and decipher before anything else, but not in detail. For example, "cut down the tree by the AC" well, there's 15 right there. Cut down the wrong one and your fired. Ken, the director, refuses to carry a phone or radio to be able to reach him for clarification on what exactly he wants done. if you do anything, even if it's done the right way and it's not how he would have done it, you're wrong. You then have to redo it the improper way to make him happy. His wife Shelia is nothing but a greedy HATEFUL person and a hoarder. She claims everything that is Ranch property is her own. Every building is crammed full of broken and damaged appliances and furniture. The Gym that was built FOR THE BOYS is being used as storage shed for this junk that they can't let go of. Around the ranch you will find nothing but junked vehicles boats and garbage around every corner and turn. DONORS BEWARE !! anything that you Dontate for the Boys is never going to be seen or used by them. Anything "nice" is kept by Shelia. The cars you all donate for the boys to work on doesn't happen. They get pulled back to one of the several places. Any nice cars that are donated are to be put into the Museum that doesn't exist. So they sit in the open, exposed to nature, and become ruined, then pulled into the brush to be overgrown in. Because the mechanic doesn't have time to do anything at all. if he is he is working on his own projects %50 of the time or sitting in the office chatting with the receptionist. Yet, HE receives a full paycheck each month and i'm sure bonuses, just like Sheila the payroll person GIVES HERSHELF BONUSES! The votech they claimed to have the boys do is nonexistent. They can't keep staff long enough to have one and the ones they do maybe teach the boys 45 mins worth. The boys are required to go on work jobs where they get paid $2-$4 an hour to do manual labor such as landscaping, cutting down trees, leaf jobs, and moving people. Also work on current and previous staff homes which makes the boys extremely uncomfortable. THERE IS NO COMMUNICATION AT ALL between administration and staff. And as far as the program director, which is also the teacher, counselor, house manager, and a pastor, is concerned, she keeps her head down and her mouth shut! Although Mona was the one who told us on our first week that Sheila has NO place to be giving ANY orders, we were to only listen to Mona and Ken the director. If you go to her with your concerns on what is happening around ranch she will not help you and sit there and watch as everything unfolds. Move your family or send your children here at your own risk. WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND IN A MILLION YEARS."

"My son was hid away here by his father. My son was physically abused and forced to heavy labor like the rest of the boys. He had no way to contact me to find me. We thought he was missing for many years. This place is a child's prison. My son still speaks of the awful way boys are treated there. Especially the ones that have no family to get too.Its very sad."

"I am a single parent of a former resident at the Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch. My ethnicity is African American. I have confidence in saying that my son was in a safe place free from any form of harm, prejudice and discrimination. The environment is conducive of young men working together for a greater cause, which is the purpose of healing broken hearts. In heaven there isn’t any segregated mansions or rooms, we are all equal. The staff were very caring and skillful and has taught my son many life skills. My son is able to apply the knowledge that he has acquired from the ranch to life situations today. He appreciates the skills that he has obtained from the ranch. They taught him the importance of organization as it relates to maintaining a clean area, various job skills (vocational training), and the importance of excelling in education. The program teaches these young men to be disciplined, which is needed in our society. These young men will grow up to be leaders. We need leaders that are self-controlled, respectful, compassionate, and skillful. But most importantly, we need leaders that have a positive relationship with God. I am proud to say that the Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch, embodies all the positive qualities to help our young men to evolve into young men of great honor! Additionally, the program provides mental health counseling, which is a great plus. The mental health component helps the young men to cope with their emotions by exchanging negative coping skills for positive coping skills. Parents, if you are facing challenges with your child and success is what you are seeking; I will simply say that with God and this program, you got this!"

"I live in Holiday Island, AR. I am remodeling a house and I have had these boys to my house approximately 20 times in the past 5 months. These boys have picked up trash, cut trees, moved dirt, dug ditches, moved rocks, hauled off trailer loads of trash and job site debris. These boys work harder than most men, never complain and have great attitudes. I think this is great organization and if I could give them a higher rating of 5 then I would. These boys show nothing but respect, hard work, and most have visions for their future that most youth these days don't have. I wouldn't hesitate hiring some of these boys full time when they graduate from this program."

"The owner is Great man with a good heart! I was there from 1997-2000. Honesty I was a 13 year old kid that lost his father and was seeking attention in all the wrong ways. The ranch teaches kids about hard work, Christ, and gives them values they will use for their entire lives I’m 35 now with a wife of 10 years and two amazing children. I’ll be lucky to pass on some of the lessons I was taught at the ranch."