What Comes After Cookson Hills?
What Comes After Cookson Hills?
By Ron Riley
One of the questions I’m asked most often is, “What happens to the children after they leave Cookson Hills?” It’s an understandable question. People who faithfully support this ministry don’t just care about what happens while a child is here. They wonder what comes next. Did the love they experienced last? Were children truly prepared for whatever God had waiting beyond our campus?
Two years after graduating from Cookson Hills, Ahbrianna is studying at Ozark Christian College, competing as a collegiate volleyball player, and discovering a love for writing, speaking, and serving wherever God leads. Looking at her today, it would be easy to assume this story is about college, volleyball, or her future plans. It isn’t. Ahbrianna would tell you something different.
Ask her what she remembers most about Cookson Hills, and she doesn’t begin with school, volleyball, or graduation. She simply smiles and says, “Home. Faith. Hope.” Those three words tell the story better than any list of accomplishments ever could.
She Found More Than A Place to Live
When Ahbrianna first arrived at Cookson Hills, she describes herself as “nervous, vulnerable, searching, scared, uncertain.” Like many children who come to our campus, she carried questions that couldn’t be answered in a single conversation or solved in a single day. Perhaps the biggest question was one many children never say out loud: Will I ever truly belong?
Today, home means something entirely different. “I think I learned that home is more people than a place,” she says.
That understanding didn’t come from one defining moment. It came through years of ordinary, faithful relationships with people who continued to show up. When I asked what changed her life during her years at Cookson Hills, she paused before answering with two simple words: “Through people.”
She remembers how Mrs. Myrick encouraged her. “I felt like she was very safe,” Ahbrianna says. “She believed a lot in me when I didn’t believe in myself.” She also remembers the quiet faithfulness of her houseparents, the Hortons, who became far more than caregivers. “Even if I was terrible,” she reflects, “they still returned with love.”
It was a simple statement, but one that reveals the quiet power of consistent love over time, the kind of love that doesn’t disappear when things get difficult. The kind that teaches a child, day after day, that they are worth showing up for. Today, while away at college, that relationship hasn’t changed. When friends ask who the Hortons are, Ahbrianna simply smiles and says, “These are my parents.”
She Discovered A Faith That Stayed
Before coming to Cookson Hills, Ahbrianna didn’t know Jesus. Today, when asked what truth has remained at the center of her faith, she doesn’t mention a favorite Bible verse. She simply says, “God is present.”
Then she explains why: “Growing up, there was a lot of loss and a lot of people coming in and out of my life. Knowing God is present means someone is always staying.”
Looking back, it’s easy to see how God made that truth visible through the people around her. Day after day, they showed up. They listened. They forgave. They encouraged. Through their faithfulness, Ahbrianna discovered that the God who loves her would never leave her. That confidence became the foundation she carried with her after graduation. The faith she discovered at Cookson Hills wasn’t simply something she experienced while living on campus. It became something she could carry with her into whatever came next.
She Left Ready For Her Next Chapter
Leaving Cookson Hills wasn’t easy. “I think it was super hard to leave,” she admits. But somewhere along the way, the encouragement she had received became confidence. She realized, “I can do this.”
Every child who leaves Cookson Hills writes a different next chapter. We don’t know exactly what each story will look like, but we pray every student leaves ready to take the next brave step God has prepared for them.
Today, Ahbrianna speaks about the future with hope. She dreams of writing. She hopes to encourage others through speaking. She has a heart for serving the global Church. Most of all, she now understands something she didn’t know when she first arrived: she has a purpose.
Your Generosity Became Part of Her Story
After our interview ended, Ahbrianna texted me one more thought. She had continued thinking about the final question I asked, what she would want to say to the people whose generosity helped make her story possible. Her words were too meaningful not to share.
I wish you could see what I see. I wish you could see the moments your generosity created. Because of you, I found something different.
I found a place where someone showed up. A place where I was known by my name, not by my past. A place where love wasn’t just something I heard about, it was something I experienced.
Your giving was never just a gift. It was a message that said, ‘You matter.’ When I look back, I don’t just see a children’s home. I see the people who made it feel like home. Your giving became part of my story. The greatest thing you gave me wasn’t simply a place to live. You gave me the chance to know what it feels like to be loved, to belong, and to discover who God created me to be.”
Maybe that is the answer to the question we hear so often: What happens to the children after they leave Cookson Hills? They take with them what was given to them here. They carry the love, faith, hope, encouragement, and confidence that grew through years of people choosing to show up. And sometimes, two years later, you get to see what that looks like.
Not just a college student. Not just a volleyball player. Not just a young woman with dreams for the future. You see someone who knows she is loved, someone who knows she belongs, someone who knows God is present, and someone who is ready for whatever comes next.
Right now, there are students at Cookson Hills who are just beginning to discover home, faith, and hope. Two years from now, their stories could look a lot like Ahbrianna’s.
