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In the Know Lee County: Liberty Youth Ranch growth being noticed
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Q: While traveling north on Interstate 75, shortly past the Bonita Beach Road exit at approximately mile marker 120 on the east side of the road there is a fairly large lake, and on the far east shore of the lake there is a pair of buildings looking like twin residences. They are very large and virtually identical. Can you tell me what they are, and what they will be used for?
- Keith Bartz, Naples
A: Those two buildings, Keith, are the first two structures in the expansive Liberty Youth Ranch.
The Liberty Youth Ranch is a 156-acre property dedicated to helping young children from Southwest Florida who have become homeless through no fault of their own.
The entire plan for the site includes the 64-acre lake, a chapel, a therapeutic equestrian center, a recreation center, a private school and the residences for the children, which will be their permanent homes until they are old enough to live on their own.
In total, there will be 12 residences on the site, and each will house eight to 10 children. Roughly 1,100 kids in Southwest Florida are eligible to live there.
At the center of the Liberty Youth Ranch is Alan Dimmitt, who paid $3.1 million for the site. He has refused to accept any public funds for his project and has been relying solely on donations to raise his ranch.
The Liberty Youth Ranch will build phases as the donation money comes in.
Q: Can you explain what the letters SE stand for on the road sign for Bonita Beach Road where it meets Bonita Grande? The sign is at the northeast corner. There are other streets with similar letters indicating possibly direction. Thanks for any explanation you could provide.
- D.S.
A: Well, D.S., those letters should be on every Bonita Beach Road sign east of U.S. 41. On the west side of U.S. 41, the letters switch to SW.
The SE stands for southeast, and the SW stands for southwest.
There’s no word on why Bonita Beach Road was designated southeast and southwest instead of just east and west, but the designations help clarify the addressing of the thoroughfare. They also help first responders find the exact location of an emergency.
Brad Kane is a staff writer for the Daily News. E-mail him In the Know questions at bjkane@bonitanews.com.
Find a complete archive of “In the Know” at naplesnews.com/intheknow/
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While I find the concept of the Liberty Youth Ranch admirable, I'd like it more if they weren't so overtly religious. Of course, being a privately funded organization they have the right to be, but since they're accepting referrals from public child welfare organizations like the Florida Department of Children and Families, the courts and public school counselors it seems to be a case of public agencies accepting heavy-handed Christianity. Take a look at their webpage:
http://www.libertyyouthranch.org/inde...
#1 Posted by BlackCat on May 16, 2008 at 6:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wasted second question...what kind of idiot doesn't know SE and SW? Apparently D.S. !
#2 Posted by babbas on May 16, 2008 at 8:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We raised over 5K for him at our little event and all we got was a call from him at the end of the day asking how much we raised. He didn't bother to send any representative out to accept the donation, he didn't even say thank you, just "how much did ya get"? Needless to say he won't be on our list ever again.
#3 Posted by flmomx10 on May 16, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope this "ranch" don't turn out to be like the one in Tx they just raided.
#4 Posted by swamp4u2 on May 17, 2008 at 11:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How truly admirable, this community has so many hurting children stuck in fostercare or shelters needing a chance in life with very little social services with all the growth. The court system has no where to place these many neglected, abused and homeless children. I have watched from I-75 this organization grow out of the ground in such a short time into an amazing campus for children - THANK YOU to those willing to serve such an important need and noble cause without tax dollar funding. Keep up the great work and don't ever give up!!
#5 Posted by technap64 on May 17, 2008 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder how many fish they have in that 64-acre lake? How can you access the Ranch? Do they have public fishing times?
#6 Posted by trucker4986 on May 17, 2008 at 12:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LYR will serve children who are "homeless through no fault of their own." This phrase drove me crazy the first time I read it in the ranch's fundraising material, and it makes me twice as insane to read it in the Naples Daily News. Could we maybe agree that children who find themselves in horrific circumstances are always there through no fault of their own? Because they are children?
The NDN makes it sound as though Dimmitt took the $3.6 million for the site out of his own pocket. I have no idea what LYR's financials are, but if you'll check public records, you'll see that the site is actually owned by an LLC affiliated with the nonprofit. That means investors can put money in and help the organization raise capital more quickly. That said, I'm guessing that it probably isn't accurate to call their cash a "private donation."
#7 Posted by meddlingkid on May 25, 2008 at 9:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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