Wisconsin Life

learning about the therapeutic programs offered here and the communities they serve. LifeStriders provides accessible services, connecting people with special needs with nature. I met up with co-founder Veronica Sosa to talk about the organization and why equine therapy is so impactful.

Veronica Sosa

Our bodies are meant to be moving and the horse can kind of replicate that feeling and one of the ways that it does, primarily neurologically, is it stimulates the language centers of the brain, which is one of the reasons that it's so powerful for people who have different types of developmental disabilities, speech and language delays, even Alzheimer's. Very nice. So, you have the therapeutic professionals and also a strong volunteer base from what I understand. That's correct. We have the most amazing volunteers. That's the thing about LifeStriders that makes me so excited. This place attracts the most amazing people and our volunteers do that. We could never do this program without our volunteer base. The dedicated team is making a difference in people's lives like it did for Maddox. I talked with his mom, Jessica Lynch, to learn how her son's life has changed since coming to LifeStriders. So, what's brought you to LifeStriders? So, my son has been diagnosed with a mixed receptive-expressive language disorder. That basically means that he understands very little language. So, when my son started here last summer, he was able to produce maybe two-word sentences. Most of them were not original. We were not able to have conversations. He couldn't answer questions. Within six months, he started being able to produce original sentences for the first time in his life. This program has created the single greatest difference in his developmental journey. For many, coming here can be a transformative journey whether they are volunteering or receiving services. Everybody that comes to the farm will make their personal life strides, whatever that is. Maybe it's not even getting on a horse. Maybe it's volunteering or maybe it's through the counseling program. But just being here and get-- and trying to do something in a different way can be so powerful. And I just want to share that and make sure that people know that we're here for them. An organization with a hands-on approach working to change lives. Now, let's continue our journey.