A Journey of Faith
See HCYR through the Decades.

1970's

In 1976, Gary Priour donated 107 acres of family land to give the Hill Country Youth Ranch its start.
With the help of community volunteers and generous donors, development began in earnest. Builders came as volunteers. Community leaders gave endorsements. A design larger than anyone could grasp seemed to enfold the project. Contributors would “happen by” at just the right time. Needs were always met.
The Ranch was officially incorporated in March of 1977, receiving tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization at the same time. A telethon was hosted on local TV in 1978 to raise funds for further development.
1980's

The first decade saw the Ranch expand to a capacity for 60 children housed in eight family-style residences on a 265-acre campus. The dream for creating a space to enhance the lives of children in need became a reality and programs were able to be developed.
During this time, the Ranch built administration and counseling buildings, a general store (which is a free on-campus area that supplies children with brand new clothes, shoes, bedding, and linens), a community center for celebrations, a gymnasium, a playground, a garden, an orchard, a barn, a library, and a chapel.
1990's

In Ingram, Texas, HCYR became a program-enriched village for up to 80 children. HCYR opened a Training Center for certifying childcare workers and an Assessment Center to help youth with high behavioral needs. Licenses were gained as a Residential Treatment Center and a Child Placing Agency during the early 1990s. The Ranch also built a greenhouse, woodworking shop, swimming pool, and a fine arts center.

In Leakey, Texas, Oma Bell Perry donated 7,050 acres of land, what we now know as Big Springs Ranch for Children. Our second campus in the beautiful Texas Hill Country is a haven for children in foster care and private placements.
2000 - 2010s

For decades, Hill Country Youth Ranch had cared for children in need, many seeking placement while in Child Protective Services. However, we saw two major needs from what we experienced during that time. The need for individualized education to ensure no child slips through the cracks, and the need for stability after graduation. After much planning and consideration, HCYR decided to create a charter school system on each of our campuses, as well as develop a third campus for young adults and single mothers, Fall Branch Village.
Capacity for all three campuses reaches 100 children and young adults. Our efforts have also expanded into caring for 100+ more children through our charter schools (which are open to the community).

Gary Priour, Founder of HCYR

“I remain amazed at what God has done. It looks to me like, if we follow the trail of guidance the Father leaves in the clues of daily life, we, and the children we care for, are heirs to a legacy of miracles.”

- Gary Priour

Gary Priour, Founder of Hill Country Youth Ranch in Ingram, Texas, graduated from Harvard University, cum laude, in 1969 with a major in English Literature. He received a Masters Degree in the same field at Portland State University in 1971. He taught high school and college English and literature before devoting himself full-time as a single parent to the care of his 2-year-old son. His involvement with at risk children began in 1972 when, at his daycare center in Portland, Oregon, a mother left a 2-year-old girl for whom she did not return. He has been involved with the care of such children ever since.

Priour has participated in the evolution of the Texas child care system since founding and opening Hill Country Youth Ranch in 1977. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Licensed Children’s Services, been State Chairman of the Residential Treatment Section of TALCS, served as President of the Texas Alliance for Children, and worked on two state task forces whose goal was to revamp the service delivery system for at-risk children and families in Texas. Priour has overseen the design and operation of a “continuum of care” that provides a broad array of residential and educational settings and services for children and youth of all ages and need levels. He has supervised the building of four charter school campuses, two medical/psychiatric assessment centers, three “small-town” villages in rural and ranch settings, and apartment complexes for young adult graduates of the foster care system. These facilities operate interconnectedly as a continuum to offer a variety of life-enhancing communities and programs, each promoting the healing and education of abused and homeless children and young adults, ages 5 – 24.

The constant goal of this continuum is to find the best possible setting for each child, teen, or young adult, where individual needs for healing and learning can be met at each stage of growth, while allowing him or her to remain in the same family of caregivers and mentors as he or she matures and enters adulthood. Priour’s idea of family is that it extends throughout life, and the more than 2000 alumni of the HCYR programs can attest to that. All are welcome to return to one of the numerous alumni guest houses at any time, apply for educational grants regardless of age, and also receive emergency aid in a time of crisis. The Alumni Association is an active community for Ranch graduates, exchanging support and advice to alumni of all ages.

Oma Bell Perry

“My mother and sisters and I decided a long time ago that this ranch would be a children's home.”

- Oma Bell Perry, Benefactor of HCYR's Leakey Campus

Oma Bell Perry, with her mother and two sisters, came to settle the Upper Frio Canyon, where the Frio River begins, in 1928. Oma Bell was 15. The family would ranch the rugged canyons, carving out a living raising goats and cattle, for 75 years. None of the daughters married, and before their mother died in 1970, they agreed on a plan to give the land for a children’s home. Oma Bell’s two sisters both died in 1986, and Oma Bell was left to fulfill the family dream.
Oma Bell spent ten years visiting various organizations throughout the U.S., finally choosing the son of another hill country ranching family, Gary Priour, who had founded Hill Country Youth Ranch 50 miles away in 1977, to accept the challenge. The year was 1996, and Oma Bell would live long enough to see children playing in the river and studying in the charter school, experiencing the healing qualities of the beautiful land for which she had spent her life caring.
Miss Perry, great grandniece of Stephen F. Austin, believed that history would prove that the health of a civilization depends on the quality of its investment in its children. She has certainly made her contribution to that cause.