“A lot of the animals have been given to us because there is nowhere else to take them,” Blair said. “I think some of the kids feel like that.”

So far, Blair has horses, miniature horses, goats, pigs and rabbits to be placed at Building Bridges Youth Farm. Kids referred by school counselors, social workers or teachers, or kids in foster care or with disabilities will be able to go to the farm to interact with and care for the animals, as well as tend to a garden. Blair said counselors will be able to come to the farm to work with kids.

Blair said a long-term goal of hers is to have kids raise a pig to be butchered and donated to the food bank to give back to the community.

“I feel like ranching and farming is a dying way of life,” she said. “A lot of kids don’t understand where their food comes from, so we are also teaching a lifestyle.”

Blair said she visited a similar therapy farm in Scottsdale, and said the kids loved to be there. She said there was nothing like it in Flagstaff or northern Arizona, and thought it would be a great resource for children in the community.

“I want these kids to have a safe place to go in our community,” she said.