Mane Hope has a special place in jb and me owners Maribeth and Jamie's heart. Maribeth's husband, (Jamie's dad) is a volunteer for Mane Hope and the ministry program is run out of their barn! They have truly been apart of this amazing outreach and have seen the impact that it does. Amazing stories of how these volunteers and Damien, the beautiful sweet horse that has given these children hope.

For the month of September jb and me is working on raising funds for Mane Hope to grow and touch even more childrens lives! jb and me is donating 100% of the proceeds from our top two fall fragrances of Swan Creek candles! Warm Cinnamon Buns and Pumpkin Vanilla are now in stores for you to enjoy and the cool thing is you will be making a huge difference with your shopping!

Learn more about Mane Hope below,

Mane Hope is a new ministry of Bethany Christian Services. We have recently finished our first summer session program. The program ministers to foster and adoptive youth in the Holland area. Mane Hope centers around the use of horses to provide comfort, healing and hope to children who have experienced trauma.

Each youth in the program is matched with a volunteer who teaches and mentors the young person for an hour long session each week. The volunteer teaches about horse care and riding. They also provide an opportunity to listen to the youth and encourage discussion on relevant topics in their lives such as trust, respect, safety, self-worth, boundaries and more.

This summer we had six children in the program. Each child was unique and progressed at their own pace in working with the horse. Volunteers were able to get to know their mentee and encourage and invest in their lives. The volunteers are a positive support to these children who have experienced so much hardship. Many of the kids have been in foster care for several years. They have experienced a variety of abuse, neglect and traumatic experiences. They have often endured several moves, transitions and much loss in their short lives.

On the farm these kids are able to just be kids. They can play in the dirt, look for spiders and most importantly ride a horse. They are able to ride a thousand pound animal who listens to them and follows their directions. For a child who has had so little control in their life, to be able to control a large animal is a big deal. The kids have the biggest smile on their face and sometimes get the giggles while trotting for the first time. They learn about how to trust the horse and how the horse turns his ears to listen just to them. Respect and safety are natural topics as they groom the horse and learn about being around such a large animal. Learning about how unique each horse is, easily ties in to how unique each child is and how special they are.

The heart of Mane Hope is to provide a safe place for children to experience hope, healing, and encouragement. This summer we saw this in action as each of the kids spent time loving on their horse and the volunteers spent time investing in each child.
For more information about this ministry, please contact

Amy DeJonge, Mane Hope Coordinator.
(616)215-2776 or adejonge@bethany.org