Founder

Chalae Collard is certified in FBEAB (Faith-Based Equine Assisted Philosophy) and is the Founder and CEO of Graceful Oaks Youth Ranch. Graceful Oaks offers faith-based programs for mental health and wellness, personal development and growth, and programs that strengthen families. The idea of the Ranch began in 1999 when God spoke to Chalae’s heart and placed a dream there of one day having a ranch where women, children, and families could come to find refuge from the painful places in their lives and experience hope and healing.

Chalae’s healing from her own journey through domestic violence, PTSD, sexual abuse, trauma brain injury, and other trauma is evident when she is leading Certified Equine Sessions. This program encourages women and children who are going through pain to find hope while identifying lies we believe and replacing them with God’s truths. This program is for ages 10 and older and targets issues like personal power, finding and using your voice, healthy boundaries, trust, hope, and truly knowing that you are loved by God.

Her love for horses started at a young age when she met her first horse named Tina. Tina taught Chalae about relationships, acceptance, and love. Their relationship was a safe place for Chalae to run to when times got hard at home and life created pain that was too difficult to carry. This safety was evident to those around her, as Chalae rode Tina with no shoes and bareback for hours upon hours. She experienced the air of freedom as they rode together and raced trains next to the tracks, freeing her mind of worry and placing truth in her heart that God had a better future ahead, one beyond what Chalae could see that day.

Chalae’s ministry experience includes creating, developing, and teaching Christian leadership skills to children and women through programs like Club 56 (for 5th and 6th graders), Women’s Bible Connection, which has reached over 450 women today, and helping to create a women’s mentoring program being offered today through a church in Colorado.

Chalae’s heart is to minister to those who are struggling to find hope in a broken world and to point to the restorative power of God. Her well-traveled road with God includes emotional, spiritual, and physical healing that encourages others to believe that brokenness in God’s hands leads to hope!