Being "Neigh"borly at the Shea Therapeutic Riding Center

Having a healthy child is something that many parents assume will just be part of the "planned picture" of their lives. However, there are those whose children have special needs. Where does one go, if you are one of those parents, for therapy?

For many families in Orange County California it's a wonderful place called the J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano. Fortunately for these parents it happens to be one of the most respected and largest accredited therapeutic equestrian programs in the country.

It takes more than 200 volunteers, physical and occupational therapists, a staff to care for 25 horses and seven acres of land to provide care for over 540 riders per year, according to executive director Dana Butler-Moburg and her assistant Dana Green. Green added that the center serves clients with approximately 50 varying disabilities.

The Shea Center doesn't only do a marvelous job at helping kids with disabilities-it has also be a cornerstone of providing those with hearts of gold and the need to give back to their community a place to devote their time. The center's most devoted volunteers and supporters live in the Nellie Gail area of Laguna Hills, California, and they don't even ride horses!

How and when did it all begin? Twenty years ago, Jon and Penny Fosheim wanted to volunteer and the center was looking for someone with a background in finance to assist with its growth. With Jon's financial background and Penny's interest in horses, the union was made.

Penny calls it kismet. Jon was more involved while Penny was raising their children. It was during those years that Penny met other Nellie Gail moms. She recruited these families to form what Moburg and Green have nicknamed "The Lone Pine Circle Gang". Over the years, these Nellie Gail pals have raised literally millions of dollars in support of the Shea Center.

Other families who have joined the fold are Jenny and Bill Klein, who have donated $1 million dollars and an $850,000 challenge grant to cover the final renovation costs last year. The grant was met Dec. 31, 2007, and Shea has just broken ground on The Klein Family Education and Therapy Building.

Others are Les and Ellen Lunn- Les is the retired president of Shea Homes of Southern California; Susie and Bob Roof - past chairs of the organization; Georgia Redoglia, Bev Yocum, Diane and Wayne Blackburn and Dixie Sparks, who is the center's 2008 Volunteer of the Year.

What kind of support do these families give-besides the financial donations? Penny supervises a yearly barbecue fundraiser and a black tie event appropriately named the Shea Center Gala. The ladies refer to themselves as the "worker bees".

All agreed that they do whatever needs to be done - raise money, raffle prizes, tie bows and ribbons onto balloons, and decorate rooms. As Jenny Klein says "A synergy has developed among us during our years of friendship, mothering and volunteering."

All their children are involved as well. Many of the now adults still donate their time or have found passions of their own to volunteer to in a way of following in their parents very generous footsteps. One daughter finished college and decided to teach in Madagascar. Some spend their summers at home from college volunteering in the administration section at Shea or heading up the Pig Race fundraiser.

Are there any special stories or memories that stand out over their 20-year "rein"?

Susie Roof-who is also a licensed physical therapist, said she sees things for a medical point of view. "I see traditional medicine only being able to take a child with severe medical needs to a certain point and then the doctors send home the child with the parent and that's basically it," she said. " With the Shea Center, the therapy is never cut off. We have seen clients such as Michael Lewis, who has been coming to Shea since its inception 30 years ago, still attending and getting something out of the program."

Ellen Lunn commented that many of the kids have siblings who play soccer, baseball and other sports that require them going to all the games. "The kids who come to the Shea Center will never get to go and do those things, but here, they can and do compete in riding competitions and their siblings come to those and cheer them on! They also have a chance to earn trophies and medals".

This group started with Jon and Penny Fosheim here in Laguna Hills, but their generosity and community spirit was contagious enough to spread too many of their close friends and neighbors