Stop Funding Pinehaven

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Author: Anon Nomus

Started: January 31, 2005, 7:44:43 am

Target: All Supporters of Pinehaven

Category: Civil & Human Rights

Supporters:

Goal:

100,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Active

Pinehaven was started well over 20 years ago with the goal of helping children from all walks of life and all backgrounds. For many Pinehaven was a last resort. For others Pinehaven was their only hope. The reason Pinehaven has been a "success story" is because their aren't very many programs out their like this. This program has no checks and balances and it is operated and controlled by the Larsson Family including Andy and Bob (Co-Directors) and Jon (The Principal). While these people have been good people. All good people have their negatives sides. However, when good people make mistakes people get hurt. In these cases many many children have been hurt and scarred for life because of a fundamentalist attitude and a very psychologically controlling atmosphere that leads to deeper problems of sexual abuse, addiction, and self-destruction.

Pinehaven's atmosphere has created a bad environment for these desperate children to get help. Children are housed with other children of a problem nature up to 11 other children. This creates a problem where the children don't get the one on one attention they desperately need on a daily level.

There is no real counseling that goes on to deal with the causes of the problems that landed these children at a place like Pinehaven. And while the children are taught the "rules and regulations" of a closed community. They are not taught and trained how to make it on their own in the real world.

They are never given a "biblical" sex education class, they are taught that relationships between couples is wrong at Pinehaven. This actually creates more problems.

In fact this year 2 girls were molested by a former Pinehaven student who was teaching at the school. IS THIS PROTECTING THESE CHILDREN???

I am asking that you quit funding Pinehaven until proper checks and balances are put into place to stop the physical,psychological, and sexual abuses that take place at Pinehaven Christian Children's Ranch.

Thank You and God Bless.

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Discussion Forum

Stop Pinehaven

Created June 3, 2009, 1:47:23 pm. 1 comments

Last post by Karen Babb239

Posted June 3, 2009, 1:47:23 pm

Signatures

former student said 5 days ago (unverified)

I support this Petition.I wasnt allowed to tell my parents of the many many forms of abuse I witnessed and went through personally. I was forced to piss my pants while raking yard( \"OR ELSE) if i came to the door for anything. Was pulled down stairs by hair for moving to slow. Forced to watch others pinned agianst floors & walls for not wanting to do things \"their\" way. Constantly called fat, stupid, and worthless by Debbie Barnes, Jon, Andy, Bob Larsen never hurt me , infact were a safe place for me. They werent fully aware of what happen behind closed doors. I only in last few years have regained all my humanity. I am wiccan and happier for it. I no longer live by fear and guilt over normal everyday things. I had to learn how to function in society by trial and error, overcoming my dibilitating fears.

#41

BRyan Dare said 2 weeks ago (verified)

I want everyone that ever went to PH please send me your personal testimony to my address i am putting together a class action lawsuit for those who were tortured and/or mistreated like myself and countless others over two decades,,,please dont be afraid and dont hesitate,,do it now before its to late and they corrupt and harm more innocent lost souls---625 E. Blvd North Rapid City South Dakota,57701 ,,,please as soon as possible

#40

Carrie Moe Lacy said 2 weeks ago (unverified)

I\'m sorry you feel you got a raw deal in life. Hope you can do things better on your own, if that doesnt work I know the Man up stairs can help. P.S. I do not support this petiton

#39

said 10/02/09, 11:38 am (verified)

I can\'t believe all you people with an axe to grind against a place that had the best of intentions to help you. As has been pointed out in previous posts--no human or organization is perfect. Obviously if you\'ve been accepted there, your background wasn\'t the greatest to begin with. Of course in a CHRISTIAN organization (and we all know how much the liberal mainstream media fears the word \"Christian\"), books, conversations, etc, will be monitored. They are trying to promote purity. And of course they do the entry process with the child un-accompanied by the parents. How else is a child to be honest about what he/she may have endured at the hands of parents that may have been abusive?? And Pinhaven takes no government funding--it is run strictly by donations, so they are not accountable to the government\'s ridiculous interference. As if the government is doing such a great job helping the children of this country--HELLO! There is a time for all of us to take responsibility and be accountable for our own lives. I\'d suggest everyone who has a negative comment on here to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and make a good life, instead of blaming others for their shortcomings. If everyone in this world took repsonsibility for themselves, this country would be a lot better place to live!

#38

Laura Morris126 said 07/27/09, 11:22 am (verified)

I support this petition. There is something amiss with this organization. I\'ve been told my actions were not of God, therefore, that means they are of Satan. This is farthest from the truth. My hope is that the organization and its’ staff would re-evaluate the program, its’ goals and how to meet the needs of the children within the program with God and His teachings involved at all levels. Conflicting messages causes unnecessary hurt. I did witness a house mother with her finger in the face of an 11-year old and the word \"Stupid\" being used - the child was in tears due to the event not due to medication. Children can be trying at times but as adults and teachers of God\'s Word, we must know when to remove ourselves from a situation before inflicting any type of harm (physical, verbal or emotional). They are God\'s Children - never lose sight of that. Accountability for those involved and transparency as an organization would solve any issues and questions petitioners at this site have brought up. They are genuine concerns that need to be answered in truth.

#37

RITA WEIDNER said 07/16/09, 5:10 pm (verified)

I support this petition.

#36

Pinehaven Helped My Family said 07/13/09, 6:08 pm (verified)

A cult is also defined as an organization that is outside of the mainstream population for its type, and part of what they do is to brainwash and rob people of all that they possess if they can. How is Pinehaven outside of the mainstream Christian population? If you ask a Bible-believing, Christian group home for help, isn\'t it silly to later complain because they are conservative? And which of the parents reading this have ever been coerced to pay for their child\'s care at Pinehaven? I am hard pressed to figure out what\'s in it for Pinehaven here. They get to take a child that isn\'t much fun to be around, turn them into someone that can make good and loving choices despite the negativity that the world offers at every turn, and then foot the bill. There will be things that you will not like, to be sure. But some common sense and some gratitude here would be nice.

#35

Anonymous Parent of 2 said 07/12/09, 7:37 pm (verified)

It is a cult - Cult definitions coined from 1920 onward[1] refer to a cohesive social group and their devotional beliefs or practices, which the surrounding population considers to be outside of mainstream cultures. The surrounding population may be as small as a neighborhood, or as large as the community of nations. They gratify curiosity about, take action against, or ignore a group, depending on its reputed similarity to cults previously reported by mass media. The spelling c-u-l-t has at least nine defined meanings[2] divided among positive, negative, and neutral connotations: • Positive: In common or popular usage, \"cult\" has a positive connotation for fan groups of art, music, writing, fiction,[3] and fashion devotees (see Cult following). \"Cult\" also has a positive connotation when used in the original and classic sense of veneration by any group of worshipers, though this meaning is usually applied to groups known from antiquity, including historic cults of the major religions (see Cult (religious practice)). • Negative: Also in common or popular usage, \"cult\" has a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[4] Theological cults also have a negative connotation as defined by fundamentalist Christians to include both new and major religion groups.[5] For these reasons, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

#34

julie armstrong673 said 07/06/09, 5:58 pm (verified)

there is two halves that make up a whole. Pinehaven is of course a whole. The two halves that make up pinehaven are good and bad. But that is how everyone and everything is. Iwas at pinehaven for five years and worked my butt off to graduate a year early because i hate that place. but the reason I hated that place is because the whole time that i was there i decide to focus on the bad half and never concidered focusing on the good. those of you who are deciding to focus on the bad really need to look at the other half and realize the good times. Even right now, Icannot believe that i am saying this. iwas probably the worste kid the ph ever had. but when i look back on my time there, i realize that i was loved and if i would not have been such an ass i would not have been so focused on the half that makes so many people bitter. I think that those of us who are mad were looking for a place with perfect people. Sorry to break it to you but there is or never will be any of those kind of people. And if any of you ever find someone perfect, please let me know. but until then stop trying to drag others down into the dark abyss that you refuse to get out of. And stop sending out invitations to your pity party. i know that what I have said will make a lot of people mad, but I if you give me your address, i will send you a straw so that you can suck it up.

#33

Karen Babb239 said 06/11/09, 5:02 pm (unverified)

I support this petition.

#32

H Woody said 06/03/09, 3:02 pm (verified)

I support this petition. I believe that there should be a better more firm regulation on the types of discipline used here.

#31

Jennifer Thornton said 05/28/09, 11:01 am (verified)

I support this petition. That is the most awful group home out there. I know I lived there. The house parents have a dont as dont tell policy with each other and the coverups are amazing... The place is corrupt and troubled children are expected to be fixed by the abusive hateful house parents who are only there for the free house, car, etc.... Shut it down!!!!!!

#30

Kathryn Nantz said 05/18/09, 3:48 pm (unverified)

I support this petition.

#29

kelly treadway said 04/01/09, 5:13 am (verified)

i have already signed on here a long time ago but i had to respond to angie lines saying it wasthe best years of her life. i was there with her in the same house where i can remember her spending many many nights crying over insults and other things done and said coming from ned and maxine kent. my 16 year old sons middle name is after a wonderful man that was there in the green house as a student and i know after he left he was into drugs for years and years. one of my house "brothers" was in prison for the same thing. do you know how many of the girls who left ph were pregnant within the first 2 years? I know of at least 13 of the ones who were there at the same time as me. i am one of those girls i was never taught about sex or boys other than it was evil, when i left i was so starved to have a boyfriend and just be a normal teenager i didnt do the smartest thing, i dont regret my son dont get me wrong. there were things there that i learned that i am thankful for like cooking, hunting, fishing, camping all of which are still my passions in life, my kids could fsh before they could walk, but our very basic human rights were taken away from us. the only people there that i fel like truly cared about us were debbie barnes, jon larson and rick they were the only ones who never put us down or made us feel like we were not worthy to walk this earth. at 12 years old i wore a size 10 pants so i had to be put on a diet, for gods sake i was still growing i was just a kid. i still have a serious self esteem issue thanks to ned and maxine. for all of you just finally getting out of there look ahead dont let these miserable bastards get you down. i believe in karma and they will get theirs....

#28

Joel LaRocca said 03/30/09, 4:58 am (verified)

I support this petition.

#27

Katherine Collins said 03/20/09, 8:07 am (verified)

I support this petition.

#26

ITSA BOUT TIME 2 said 03/20/09, 4:39 am (verified)

(continuation of last post) mentality rubbed in my face more times than I can count. NO- what is not fair at all is that I am now sent into a world where I do not know how to drive, talk properly on the phone, use the internet, talk to males without feeling shame, handle money and the banking system, use a library, exercise norms of society that are unwritten or do many normal functions without having a sense of unreasonable and unexplained guilt hanging over my head. And this is just the beginning of the list. All you who have been a product of the Pinehaven system, whether you support it or not, can relate to at least several of these aspects of leaving the ranch. While I disagree with many of the policies at PH, and i believe many staff members do as well, I have never been able to change them and barely been able to bend them. This rebellion against them has not been purely anarchist, for the sake of hating authority, but for the sake of human rights, MY HUMAN RIGHTS and those of the other students. Believe it or not, there ARE other options to teach a person moderation and self control than totally and permanently depriving them from what they have issues with. Drugs, sex issues and alcohol, excluded, because these things are on a totally different level. I am referring to human rights such as SPEECH (groundings entirely restricting speech for WEEKS at a time, speaking from experience, i had for near an entire summer), LOOKING AT ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL (even in national court cases, defendants are allowed to look at their attacker, yet we arent allowed to look at our house brothers), WRITING(paper was taken away if one negative word, true or otherwise, was found and personal journals and mail were all read), NON PERMISSION TO RECOGNIZE PERSONHOOD OR SEX ( you could be "grounded from" boys or girls, or certain people, usually those whom you were starting to develop meager friendships with which stopped dead any contact, visual or verbal). Ok, i

#25

ITSA BOUT TIME said 03/20/09, 4:35 am (verified)

The statements in the post previous to mine cannot be denied as applicable statements to Pinehaven Christian Children's Ranch. If any of the all-powerful Larssons would open their eyes, they would see that none of those things are in any way "Christian" or beneficial to the children under their care. I LIVED HERE< CHILDREN STILL LIVE HERE< THIS PLACE NEEDS TO BE REASSESSED< OR SHUT DOWN! Not all my childhood memories from PH are bad, many of them are quite amazing and I have gotten to do many things lots of people never experience. But this has mainly to do with my own set of house parents. In the end, it is the administration that needs to be held accountable. House parents and teachers come there to serve and in the end are themselves oppressed by the administration and not allowed to help the students rationally and appropriately. The staff, for the most part, have a genuine heart to help the kids, but are hindered by doing so by asinine measures and expectations placed on them by the Larsson family and the Kents. My mom would hang up the phone at least once or twice a week crying because her immediate supervisor, Maxine Kent, had just reprimanded her for a trivial matter, usually boiling down to, not doing something Maxine's way. This WAS NOT necessary. My mother works excessively hard. This lady who WAS NOT my house mother, had immense control over my life and what my parents were allowed to do in their own home. If this place is what it claims to be, family based, not institutionalized, then I dare the administration to allow the staff to treat it that way. This is gonna be a LONG rant, so get ready. Next subject. I was fairly controlled regarding my rebellion against the rules while at Pinehaven, despite the fact that many children, including myself, are not there for behavioral reasons. I've had the "it just wouldn't be fair if you were allowed to and the other kids weren't" mentality rubbed in my face more times than

#24

Former Male Student said 03/20/09, 4:11 am (verified)

Pinehaven claims to be against homosexuality, guess my house father never got that memo.

#23

Thomas Blake said 03/20/09, 3:54 am (verified)

I'm tired of hearing the horror stories of the Pine Haven experience from a dear friend of mine. As evidenced by the very existence of this petition, other former students have left the institution in similar condition. I want to see this stop. Pine Haven, in it's current form, is one step away from being a cult.

#22

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