Kim Tschirret
With 12+ years of marketing and brand management under her belt (including Thomas the Tank engine product launch with toy maker Learning Curve), Kim always loved the idea of working with children in some capacity.
She had owned and showed Saddlebred horses in Oklahoma while in her teen years - and the desire to share her love of these majestic animals grew only stronger when she had a family and eventually moved to Raleigh with her husband, Michael.
“My faith really pointed me in the direction of Crystal Peaks,” she says, referring to the Oregon Youth Ranch that today serves 5,000 visitors annually. After reading the book “Hope Rising” written by the ranch’s founder, Kim Meeder, Kim instantly knew her path would lead her to open a similar property in Raleigh. “It was truly the answer to prayer in the way I could combine my love of Jesus Christ and my passion for horses.”
Soon after reading Hope Rising in the Spring of 2009, Kim and her family attended an Easter Egg hunt at Bayleaf Baptist’s property at Creedmoor Road and I-540. “That was the first whisper from God about the property and I felt compelled to contact Bayleaf.” The rest is history. The church graciously agreed to allow Hope Reins to launch our program on the property. “We are so grateful to Bayleaf Baptist Church and its members for supporting Hope Reins,” she says.
Kim’s children, Isabel (6) and Chance (8), are the youngest staff volunteers at Hope Reins of Raleigh. Husband Mike serves as the “IT Director.”
“The impact these horses have made on me and my family is just amazing, “ she says, “I can’t wait to see the wonderful gifts God will provide hurting children through our horses at Hope Reins.”