Brett Bailey, the Director of Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch, leads the Therapeutic Adventure and Wilderness arm of KVC. The Ranch serves youth who have found themselves “stuck” and defined by their past. Adventure therapy allows clients to experience the transformative power of creation, and genuine relationships to allow young people to begin to grow, heal, and hope.

Brett served in the infantry as an Army Ranger and participated in multiple deployments prior to entering the child welfare field. He received his bachelor’s in social sciences, secondary education, and missions studies from Evangel University and his master’s in counseling from Liberty University. Brett has been with KVC for 18 years, starting as a youth care worker. Brett was a part of the creation of the Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch.

“I’ve never met a kid…or any person for that matter…who didn’t want to grow and change. However, I meet people everyday who don’t believe that change is possible–or even more heartbreaking–that they don’t deserve it. I’ve found wilderness and adventure to be one of the most effective ways for people to see themselves in a new light, earn evidence of their capability and worth, and begin to see that they have an incredible purpose to fulfill, not in spite of, but because of their story!” – Brett Bailey