Blend Hobby Farm Purchased
John and Connie Blend purchased 20 acres in the Salacoa Valley to be used as a family hobby farm. For the next decade they enjoyed the property with their family, with no idea the great plans God had in store for its future.

Redeemer Church Planning Committee
John and Connie had fully moved to Atlanta and were attending a new member class at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. Pastor Bob Sims let the group know that the church had a desire to start a group home for foster children, and even had a planning committee in place to assist, but the only missing piece was the land on which to build. Within a few months, the Blends dedicated their land to be used to serve vulnerable children.

Goshen Valley Foundation Created
The legal work to establish the Goshen Valley Foundation officially took place in 1999. At this point the Blends legally gave their land to be part of the foundation, knowing they would be unable to reclaim it or profit from it. By this point several additional surrounding acres were purchased and donated together.

First home build, and first young man arrives
Between 1999 and 2001 John did a nationwide search of the best group homes. He got the architectural plans from a home in Washington and hired their architect to build the Ranch’s first 7,000-square-foot home. In 2001, the Redeemer house was completed and Goshen accepted our first young man; a boy named Jared.

Three additional houses constructed
At a pace of one house per year, the remaining three new construction homes were built at The Ranch between 2002 to 2004. These houses are named the Messiah House, the Resurrection House, and the Good Shepherd House.

LoveLoud Begins
First Baptist Church of Woodstock learned about Goshen Valley and incorporated us into their inaugural LoveLoud service event. This was the first time that a significant group of Cherokee County citizens stepped foot on the Ranch and began to learn about the great work being done at Goshen Valley.

James Fund Begins
Family Christian Bookstores sent a group of their staff to come be missionaries and serve at Goshen Valley Boys Ranch for a week. On this trip, the group of 8 volunteers renovated the horse barn into a functional tutoring center. This barn is still named the James House in honor of their service, as well as the following 24 additional groups from Family Christian who came and served in the years that followed.

Goshen New Beginnings Launches
Goshen was doing a great job of getting young men to a healthy place at age 18, but we realized that foster youth need support as they age into adulthood. In 2012, we created Goshen New Beginnings, an Independent Living Program for foster youth ages 18-21. Today, Goshen New Beginnings’ mission is to lead older foster youth into lifelong thriving independence.

COA Accreditation
Goshen Valley received its first four-year accreditation in 2012 from the Council On Accreditation (COA), one of the highest standards of accreditation in child welfare worldwide. COA has served as a guide for Goshen to better align with best practices as our ministry has grown over time. We remain COA accredited today and participate in a re-accreditation every four years.

Be Rich Intersect Partner
Be Rich is North Point Ministries’ initiative where all attendees are encouraged to Give, Serve, and Love their community in a season of generosity. Goshen Valley is still an Intersect partner today, hosting over 1,000 volunteers for a service day each year. As of 2022, Be Rich has contributed over $1.6 Million to support Goshen’s growing mission.

505 Brown Industrial Pkwy Offices Open
With the growing team and clientele Goshen was serving, we expanded into an office space in Canton in 2015. This became the home of Goshen New Beginnings, as well as the majority of the administrative staff at Goshen. It also would go on to serve as the home for the launch of Goshen’s next two new programs in 2016 and 2019.

Goshen Homes Launches
Goshen leadership saw a need for the sisters of boys at the Ranch to be in a place where they could be together. Rather than building a girls ranch, Goshen sought to provide sibling reunification foster homes. Today, Goshen Homes’ mission is to recruit, train, license, and support foster families working to keep sibling groups together.

John steps down as CEO, Zach takes the lead
In 2016, after decades of leading the direction and management of Goshen Valley, John Blend officially stepped down as CEO. Zach Blend officially took the reins as Goshen CEO, a position he still holds today.

Sims Cottage Dedication
Reverend Bob Sims served as both the inspiration for starting Goshen Valley Boys Ranch, and as one of the main influences on founder John Blend’s life. Through a donation from the Mueller Family, one of the houses at Goshen Valley Boys Ranch was renamed the Sims Cottage in Reverend Bob Sims’ honor. Reverend Sims passed away in 2021.

Goshen Therapeutic Services Launches
Goshen Leadership began to feel a need to work in a preventative capacity, hopeful to reduce the number of children needing foster care services. The answer came with Goshen Therapeutic Services’ (GTS) launch. GTS aims to strengthen vulnerable families before a foster care placement occurs, or to strengthen families working to come back together after a foster care placement.

MAAC Affiliate Member
The Multi-Agency Alliance for Children (MAAC) invited Goshen Valley to become an affiliate member in 2019. This is a gathering of the top nine child welfare agencies in Georgia. Goshen Valley was the first agency added to the group in several years.

AJC Top Workplace
Goshen was ranked one of the top 150 workplaces in Georgia for the first time in 2020. Goshen has maintained this award each year since.

The Well Opens
After completing a 1.55 million dollar capital campaign, we officially opened the Goshen Community Wellness Center (The Well) in January 2020. This facility, located on the Goshen Valley Boys Ranch campus, contains a full-size gymnasium, nurse center, family visitation space, and a tutoring center.

Brasfield & Gorrie Partnership
Brasfield & Gorrie invited 15 nonprofits to apply for their nonprofit partner of the year program and selected Goshen Valley as their nonprofit partner for 2021-2023. This partnership has since generated over $600,000 to support Goshen, in addition to the numerous volunteer projects Brasfield & Gorrie have completed at The Ranch.

The Mill Opens
Goshen Homes had outgrown their space, and we were able to find a much improved office space at The Mill on Etowah. This new space allows our team the chance to recruit and train both foster parents and new employees in a more professional and community centered location.

The Goshen Family Resource Center Opens
The Goshen Family Resource Center, now home to Goshen Therapeutic Services, exists to strengthen families by providing a hub for resources and services that address root cause issues like incarceration, affordable housing, employment security, addiction, and mental and behavioral health. The down payment for this facility was purchased with ARPA funding distributed through Cherokee County, and Goshen is working to complete a 2.1 million dollar capital campaign to complete the purchase and renovation of this facility.