CLARK COUNTY, Ky. (LEX News) — Judy Singleton always believed teaching was her calling. But after years in the classroom, she felt called to do something more.
After 35 years as a teacher — mostly in the Clark County school system — Singleton retired in 2011. During her time in kindergarten classrooms, she witnessed children struggling at home, eventually being removed from their families and separated from their siblings.
"I was a teacher, a full-time teacher, for 35 years, mostly in the Clark County school system, taught kindergarten, and during that time I had seen uh children that were taking care of their self and then eventually they'd be uh, taken from their families and split apart, and, um, God placed on my heart that I could do more for them than just be their teacher," Singleton said.
That conviction led her to the idea of Solid Rock Children's Ranch in 2016 — a mission to convert a portion of her family's 130-acre farm on Stoner-Ephesus Road in Clark County into two homes where siblings in foster care can stay together.
"I feel like God's been preparing me for this. This is what, you know, he was using me as a teacher, but he was preparing me in the meantime for this," Singleton said.
The property is full of wildlife, peace, and quiet — an environment Singleton says she wants foster children to experience firsthand.
"I see deer and I see wild turkey and rabbits and possums and skunks and raccoons and you know squirrels and all that, and um I wanted them to be able to see that there was a different way to live, to experience the peace, to experience the wildlife," Singleton said.
Her vision for the ranch goes beyond providing shelter. She wants the children who come to Solid Rock to leave with a sense of their own value.
"I know that the kids will be here are going to be changed. They're going to know they have worth, they have purpose," Singleton said.
Ten years in the making, the homes are set to be completed in the next few weeks.
Funding for the project is still needed. If you'd like to donate, click here.
If you know a woman making a difference in her community, email Annie Brown at annie.brown@wlex.tv.
