It’s a story of a partnership that is changing lives. A tale of the lasting impact of hard work.

“I think they were proud of what they did,” says Janie Nelson, “and we were just ecstatic about it.”

Janie and Brian Nelson run the non-profit Agape Acres. The therapeutic horse-riding organization has found a partner in the nearby Arizona State Prison-Marana, located in Marana, AZ. Residents from the facility have been able to serve Agape Acres in a variety of ways, some through fundraisers and others through on-site volunteer work.

The Marana facility has a long history of service in the community. Warden Jeremy Casey decided to reach out to Agape Acres.

“They help with PTSD and some learning disabilities and things like that with children in the community with their equine therapy,” explains Warden Casey. “Very passionate about what they do, and so it was a good opportunity to get involved in an additional non-profit organization in the community.”

“Having the donation of time and work crews has been really beneficial for us,” Janie states. “It’s helped us out a lot.”

The Nelson’s have seen a positive impact on the Marana residents as they have served alongside them.

“I absolutely do think doing something like this would be a benefit to them,” Brian Nelson says. “To be using their time and talents for something positive.”

“The biggest thing is a lot of them feel like they can give their time back to the community,” says Warden Casey, “while they’re serving their sentence, and not be compensated for it.”

“We let them know what you’re doing is helping us to serve these kids,” Janie explains, “and we tried to share as much about our program as we could.”