EmpoweRanch Youth Camps & RANCH Kids Programs

EmpoweRanch Youth Camps & RANCH Kids Programs include horsemanship, outdoor recreation, arts, archery, paddlesports, urban farming, and urban care farming. Participants take part in environmental education, service projects, leisure education, inclusive outdoor recreation, and equine-assisted activities and therapies, including therapeutic horseback riding and other animal assisted therapies. Activities also include adventure therapy, nature therapy, horticultural therapy, meditation, and time in community, healing, and therapeutic gardens, with a low-ropes challenge course planned for the future.

• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Winter Camp I runs Monday–Wednesday, December 22–24, 2025; Winter Camp II runs Monday–Wednesday, December 29–31, 2025; the EmpoweRanch RANCH Kids After School Program meets on Tuesdays in six adventure-filled week sessions; the 7th Annual Spirit of the Season Celebration is on Saturday, December 20, from 1pm–4pm

EmpoweRanch Youth Camps & RANCH Kids Programs are part of a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity organization. The founder and executive director, Jessica L. Voss, CTRS, CPRP, is an NCTRC Certified Recreational Therapist (CTRS), NRPA Certified Parks & Recreation Professional (CPRP), PATH Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor (CTRI), AAEE Certified Environmental Educator, AZGFD/NASP Certified Archery Instructor, and AZGFD/NASBLA Paddlesports Safety Instructor. EmpoweRanch uses a Leisure and Well-Being Model-based therapeutic recreation approach and offers programs for youth, families, veterans, and people of all abilities, including the RANCH Kids After School Program, Day at the Ranch Adaptive Group Educational & Therapeutic Field Trips, EmpoweRanch Pathways ranch-based vocational program, VORTEX: Veterans Outdoor Recreational Therapy Equine Xperience, and Mujeres Empoderadas, a bilingual ranch-based outdoor recreational therapy program for women. Additional offerings include inclusive and adaptive birthday parties, field trips, scout badge sessions, day camps and overnight family camps, Horsemanship & Outdoor Experiential Conservation Education at summer camp in northern Arizona, and upcoming programs such as SOAR: Social Outdoor Adventure Recreation Inclusive Youth Programs, LEAP: Ladies’ Empowerment Adventure Program, and the TRAIL Optimization Program (Therapeutic Recreation Adventure Interventions for Life Optimization Program).

EmpoweRanch’s mission states that it provides inclusive, holistic, and accessible outdoor therapeutic recreation and education for optimal health and well-being of veterans, and holistic, inclusive, accessible educational and therapeutic outdoor recreation to improve quality of life for underserved communities in the Phoenix-metro area, especially urban youth and veterans. EmpoweRanch has received the ABC15 Arizona “Helping Kids Go Places” Award. The organization states that it provides holistic, accessible, inclusive outdoor therapeutic recreation and education to improve quality of life for underserved populations in the metro-Phoenix area, especially urban youth and veterans with and without disabilities, and that it addresses challenges in accessibility, normalization, integration, and availability of supports and resources through community education and outreach and by providing an inclusive, nurturing environment at its facility. EmpoweRanch welcomes individuals and groups, including corporate volunteer groups such as the team at Howard Hughes Cares, and hosts the 7th Annual Spirit of the Season Celebration as a free, family-friendly community event for all ages and abilities. All visits must be scheduled in advance through program registration, a confirmed appointment, or an invitation to a specific community event.

Last updated January 17, 2026.