HorsePower Experiential Learning Program signs 20-year lease to provide new home for KC area’s longest running mental-health equine program

            HorsePower Experiential Learning Program (HELP) is moving to a new home thanks to a 20-year lease agreement for a property located at the southeast corner of Colbern and Perdue Roads.

            For the past five years, HorsePower has boarded horses and shared space at Rising Star Ranch in western Lee’s Summit. Although the new location has a Grain Valley address, it is located within the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, allowing the nonprofit to maintain its presence in the Lee’s Summit and Jackson County communities.

            The charitable organization plans to move on March 1 with sessions beginning the week of March 24. 

            To help prepare HorsePower’s new home, volunteers are making improvements such as adding insulation to portions of the building, cleaning and painting several areas, constructing new saddle racks, replacing drywall and baseboards where needed and designing and building a custom feed bin.

            “Our new home includes a beautiful pasture for our herd and a drylot, a building with classroom space, office space, a boot and helmet fitting area, tack room, feed area and an outdoor arena with lights,” said Shannon Gammon, HELP program director and Instructor. “Future plans include an indoor arena, stalls and hay storage as well as room to grow.”

            Thanks to the long-term lease on the approximately 25-acre site, HorsePower will have more opportunities to make improvements to the space and to fit the needs of the growing organization, Gammon added.

            The Kansas City area’s longest running equine program for students dealing with mental-health challenges, HELP is funded through private donations, corporate partnerships and grants. The organization includes around 160 volunteers and just one paid staff member.

“The nonprofit developed a five-year strategic plan in 2020 which included moving to its forever home by 2025,” she said, “and this lease turns that goal into reality.”

Founded in 2001, HorsePower has continued to grow over the years with around 65 young people participating in a seven-week program in 2024. The nonprofit hopes to serve close to 90 students in 2026 and increase capacity to approximately 100 by 2027.

Each student is paired with a mentor who works with the student, a horse handler and a horse – creating a 10-legged team. During seven-week sessions, the young people learn and practice basic life skills through hands-on horsemanship.

The local nonprofit, which is powered by donations and volunteers, helps children and teens facing mental-health challenges from throughout the metropolitan area. To learn more about HorsePower, financial donations and volunteering, visit horsepowerkids.org.

Photo Caption: 

HorsePower volunteers working on the new property include (from left) Shannon Gammon, HELP program director and instructor; Jordin Schall, HELP equine therapist; Kent Schall, volunteer; and Karol Anderson, HELP instructor