Our hard work is getting noticed, and paying dividends – we have land! Here are some excerpts from our interview with East Bay Times reporter ELISABETH NARDI.

The ranch’s three-member board includes Jeanine Stanley, Pamela Hale Mitchell and May Mineta, ex-wife of former Congressman and U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. May Mineta has no ties to autism in her own life; she was drawn into the project through the passion of Hale Mitchell and Stanley.

“I am awed by their determination,” she said. “The time and the effort they are putting in … we have to make sure we accomplish this.”

The three women have already met with politicians, and Hale Mitchell received the Community Service Award for her work on B Walker Ranch from outgoing U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez; State Senator Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, who succeeds Miller in Congress this month; Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, and Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen.

In November, a generous benefactor granted them use of 10.63 acres in Solano County’s Suisun Valley, just west of Fairfield, complete with an 1892-era house and a barn so deteriorated one can literally see through it. The property is located near bus and passenger rail lines, so this program will be highly accessible to all.

Read the full article in the East Bay Times here.

Source: http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2015/01/02/solano-county-ranch-would-give-those-with-autism-a-purpose-a-place/