A six episode documentary series, now in production
Heartland Ranch
Two years of construction. Six episodes. One family building a place where children can finally be safe.
The story
Heartland Ranch is being built as a safe haven for children who have survived trafficking. It is a place for healing and rehabilitation, and for the long, quiet work of helping a child feel safe again.
At the center of it are Kris and Greg, and their decision to attempt something this large: their reasons, the cost it has asked of their family, and what they know about foster care that most people do not.
Why we are telling it
This project exists to serve Heartland Ranch. The series is a tool in service of the ranch, not a production that happens to feature it, which is exactly the kind of work our model exists for.
Why this story matters
Most people cannot describe this problem. That is the reason it persists.
Public understanding of foster care stops at the word itself. This series shows how children actually move through the foster care system, where that system loses them, and why that gap is the one traffickers exploit most reliably.
Six episodes, two years
Each episode runs 25 to 45 minutes and releases roughly every three to four months, following the ranch from raw acreage to children living on the land. Episode One is in production now, and we are targeting a November release. Later episodes will follow the actual build.
Episode One, in production
Why they started
Episode Two
The system's gap
Episode Three
Breaking ground
Episode Four
The people doing it
Episode Five
First residents
Episode Six
The full accounting
How we are making it
We are making this series the way a story like this deserves: cinematic, patient, and directed and produced by the filmmakers of SOMO Collective. It is grounded in verified data and in the people doing the work, from volunteers to staff, with Kris and Greg's voices framing every episode.
Children's identities are protected throughout the production.
The people behind Heartland Ranch
Kris and Greg are the story. Their decision to build Heartland Ranch, and their perspective, guides what the series says. Alongside them are the volunteers and staff who carry the work forward every day.
Impact beyond the screen
Success means two things: sustained support for Heartland Ranch across the entire build, and public understanding of how children move through foster care and where the system loses them. A viewer who follows the construction for two years becomes a different kind of supporter than one who watches a three minute video.
Partners
Heartland Ranch
You Can Do It Foundation
SOMO Collective, directing and producing
Released on YouTube
Help this story reach the screen
Partner
Sponsors and foundations can help the series reach a national audience across the full two years.
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New episodes release every few months on YouTube, with production updates in between.
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