Commissioners Tout Importance of Whispering Acres

By Gordon HopkinsJefferson County Commissioners recently voted to give $4,200 for scholarships to Whispering Acres Trail and Treasures of Fairbury, which commissioners feel provides an invaluable serve to the community.The money will come from the Jefferson County Opioid Fund, which is money the county has received from the national opioid-related settlement agreements reached with pharmaceutical distributors in 2020.Jill Kuzelka, owner and operator of Whispering Acres, made a request for funds at a meeting on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. About Whispering AcresWhispering Acres Tails and Treasures is a non-profit 501(c)3 that provides Equine Assisted Learning (EAL), which is an educational program that is facilitated with individual or small group formats that focuses on activities with horses.In light of $15 million in cuts to mental health services recently enacted by Governor Jim Pillen’s administration, commissioners are eager to support Whispering Acres.Commissioners have often lamented the dearth of mental health services locally, particularly to those individuals who may at risk of ending up in the criminal justice system. TherapistsOne of the most important developments for Whispering Acres is the availability of credentialed therapists.“We are partnering with Antelope Valley Community Support. They are some therapists out of Lincoln, and they are going to come down and do equine assisted therapy with me, said Kuzelka. “We are not therapists, so we help with life choices, kind of like life coaching type things. Now, we can actually have a therapist in the arena.”Kuzelka added, “And I’ve already had people, two kiddos, that are going to take advantage of this.” Truancy“You know, we have a truancy problem here in the county, and what can we do to address it, you know, to keep these kids in school, so we keep them on a good track? Because, most of the time it’s not that young man and young woman, it’s what’s going on at home,” said Commissioner Mark Schoenrock. “We’ve taken that on as Jefferson County government and the great resources like Jill to try to help keep these kids in school.”To that end, the county created an Attendance Support program. Kuzelka works closely with Jefferson County’s Attendance Support programs and Whispering Acres receives referrals from both Jefferson and Gage counties.Kuzelka said, “So, Heather (Watson, Attendance Support Director), three kids she has sent out to us that we’re working with right now.”Camp G.R.I.T.Whispering Acres offers a number of different programs. One of those is Camp G.R.I.T. (Grow into a Resilient, Independent and Tenacious Young Adult), which is for kids ages nine to 17 who have family members that suffer from addiction.Summer Transition ProgramAnother program allows Whispering Acres to partner with Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation. Kuzelka said, “That’s been a huge hit. Those kids come out and they work for us all summer, and those are all students 14 to 21 that have some kind of a disability, and so they have to learn how to fill in a time sheet, and they have to learn how to get it along with others and take guidance from their supervisor, their mentor. We’re applying for that again this year, and we can take up to 10 kids,. Last year we had eight.”VeteransHorses for honor, that’s our Veterans Program. Veterans and their families and first responders can come out the second Thursday of every month free of charge and do whatever they want out there,” said Kuzelka. “One veteran in particular grabs the horse that is his favorite and just walks around with her for an hour.”FundingKuzelka is always looking for grants and other fundraising opportunities to support Whispering Acres. Some funding is available through the state’s Opioid Recovery Fund.She said, “We got an opioid grant through Region Five to help work with some truancy kids. And so, right now, out of all of the kids that come out, 10 kids are under scholarships, which are now all going to run out. Three of those are for that truancy program.”“I’m going to try to write a grant to be able to construct a little conference center and a place for therapy, individual or group, off of that,” said Kuzelka. “Hopefully, the opioid settlement funds are going to help support that.”Currently, Whispering Acres is also running an “End of Year” campaign, hoping to raise additional funds.As a non-profit 501(c)3, donations are tax deductible.Donations can be made by visiting the website at www.whisperingacres.org or by mailing a check to Whispering Acres, 71765 581st Ave, Jansen, NE 68377.

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