SUMMERDALE, Ala. — Eight boys, ages 6-18, amble in to the family kitchen to share dinner with “Mom” and “Pop” every evening. Before digging in they say a blessing for the food and wait for Mom to be seated before they take their place at the dinner table.

But these boys are not their sons. They are youth who live at the Alabama Sheriffs Youth Ranch in Summerdale, said director of Ranch Life James “Jim” Harmon.

“We don’t have any locks or bars — it’s just like a regular home,” Harmon said.

Referrals to the ranch come from pastors, social workers, school counselors, principals, grandparents or parents that are struggling with their boys, Harmon said.

Single mothers who work and have lost parental control because of their child’s lack of supervision will often place the kids in the ranch.

The kids would have probably gotten into trouble if they stayed in their home situation, Harmon said. The kids have to be willing to come.

“The goal is to teach these kids and help them grow spiritually, emotionally, and physically,” he said.

There is a married couple in each house who cares for the children as if they were their own, Harmon said. House parents are called Mom and Pop. The house parents encourage the kids to be responsible and successful in a home environment, he said.

“It is a structured atmosphere through a farm program with cows and horses and they have to take care of them,” he said.

Chores include feeding the animals, mowing the grass, keeping two miles of fences mended, maintenance on buildings and gardening in flower beds and vegetable garden. They can also drive tractors and mowers. “Our children go to public school and we encourage extracurricular activities. Our kids get involved just like any other children,” Harmon said.

With approval, the older boys even have a “date” car which they can drive to school and other functions.

“Very few childcare places like this let children drive or teach them how to drive, but we feel like that is part of growing up,” Harmon said.

In addition to taking care of the boys’ physical needs they hold devotions in the house each day, and they attend a nondenominational church in Foley. Harmon said that the Boys Ranch wants the boys to attend church with their peers and other people as it is good for social benefits too. Harmon said the ranch is a little “old school.”

The boys are taught to be responsible, have chores and learn to cook. “We teach them life skills which so many boys are not taught,” he said. There is a dress code, and they learn manners and proper etiquette. House parents stay involved in the boys’ schoolwork and meet with teachers and tutors can be provided if needed.

Boys earn visitation time after being on probation for 90 days. They can go off property once a month to have a weekend visit with family.

There is also a part-time Master’s degree social worker and Baldwin County Mental Health is available if the boys need counseling. Medical care is a parental responsibility, but most of the boys are on Medicaid. Some area dentists and doctors even provide medical care at no charge.

“The child has to see the opportunities the ranch can give him and use to his advantage,” Harmon said.

Harmon gives the example of a young man who has been at the ranch for five years. Before the boy came to the ranch he had missed more than 100 days of school in a year, and when he did attend school he would end up in fights. With unconditional love, hard work and discipline, the teen is now a junior in high school and is on the A-B honor roll.

Harmon said he didn’t want to have anything to do with raising other people’s children. But his wife, Mindy, 22, had an aunt and uncle that worked with the sheriffs’ ranch in Dallas County. When he and his wife went up for a weekend they saw what his wife calls “angel deer” standing in the driveway.

After meeting the children and spending the weekend at the ranch, Harmon and his wife decided to take the plunge and moved into a house with 12 teenage boys, despite having an 18-month-old son. Their daughter was born at the ranch.

The ranch is privately funded, but two years ago, the Baldwin County Commission began to help with funding by sending in a monthly check, Harmon said. Donors to the ranch include businesses, individuals, corporations and grants. Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack initiated a golf tournament last year ,which netted the program $21,000 last year.

“Since he (Mack) has taken over office in Baldwin County he has just been very supportive of the ranch and our children here,” Harmon said.

In March, the ranch holds a pig roast. Harmon also cooks Boston butts for sale every three months on a cooker donated by a “special couple,” he said, to generate funds for the kids. Groups that also help them raise funds includes the Blue Knights and Retro Cycle Works.

In addition to two houses, there is also a building which includes offices, a board meeting room, kitchen and a place to play basketball and volleyball, called the gym. If the boys want to attend college or trade school, the ranch provides them with a college or trade school education as long as they maintain a certain grade point average.

Currently, four men from the ranch are staying in college campuses. One donor has donated funds to build a college transitional home where boys can attend college or trade school after graduating from high school. No house parents will be in the home, but the boys will be supervised and have part-time jobs and contribute to the upkeep and care of the home. Harmon said they are still working on the logistics, but he is hoping to start construction in May of next year.

“I am praying for good house parents right now,” he said. “You have to give your total life to these children in order for them to progress and make something of themselves.”

Harmon currently has applications for five children that would like to enter the ranch but cannot until house parents are on board.

The youth ranch is located on 180 acres at Hwy. 32 east of Hwy. 59. For more information or to donate, call 251-989-6392.