HISTORY:  Chuck and Christine McClanahan began their work with troubled teens over twenty years ago.

In 1984, following one of his usual Monday night visits to Waxsters Juvenile Detention Center, Chuck McClanahan dedicated his life to helping troubled teenagers. Each Monday night, Chuck would travel from his comfortable suburban home to the juvenile facility, leaving behind his beautiful wife, Christine, and at that time their two children.

His mission was to encourage these troubled teenagers to make positive changes in their lives. That particular night as he was preparing to leave the facility, a teenaged boy approached Chuck and began to talk about his mother whom he loved and missed terribly. The teen continued to talk about his feelings until all at once he cried out, “I will never see my mother again. She just died from a heroin overdose. My father's in prison and I have nowhere to go but here!” Chuck reached out and embraced the hurting teen as tears strolled down his own cheeks. It was at this moment that Chuck made a commitment to help troubled teens, just like the one he held in his arms.

Later that year, Chuck and Christine opened their Prince Georges County, Maryland home to their first two foster teenagers. The McClanahan’s quickly outgrew their home, but were blessed to find an eighteen-room colonial manor home that was located in Davidsonville, Maryland. In October of 1985, Chuck and Christine began providing care to eight troubled boys. However, Chuck continued to dream. His plan was to someday purchase a farm that would provide a great environment for helping troubled teens.

In 1989, Christine received a phone call about an available 70-acre property in Pennsylvania. One year later the McClanahan’s moved their four young children into the small farmhouse and began cleaning and repairing the house, along with the surrounding property. It soon felt like home to the young family. In 1993, Chuck was able to purchase the rented property. Immediately, the young visionary and his Board of Directors began constructing a 6000-square-foot lodge that would provide housing for fifteen boys. Soon after, a second house was built which now houses six additional boys who have achieved the second phase of the program. Included in the development of the property, was the construction of a school/administrative office building, a vocational building, a weight room, horse stables, a hay barn, and an indoor horse training pen.

Chuck and Christine’s hearts’ desire is to enlarge the Ranch to accommodate 48 teenage boys at its present location. In 2005, permits were granted for constructing an on-campus waste treatment plant for accommodating this expansion.  Once their goal has been realized, they plan to strategically plant similar facilities in other parts of the United States. At this time, the Ranch provides care to twenty-one teenage boys ages 13-17 and utilizes the services of twenty-five fulltime staff members. The McClanahan’s realize that the need for facilities such as theirs is continually growing. With over twenty years of experience, they are driven by a passion that is in turn fueled with the knowledge that troubled teens really are worth trying to save. Now, together with a dedicated team of people who are committed to the cause, Chuck and Christine work diligently to provide troubled teens with the tools they need to get their lives back on track.