OUR STAFF

Brenda Long
Founder and Executive Director 

Brenda is a dedicated wife and caregiver. She is the mother of 3, step-mother of 3, second mom of an adult foster daughter, grandmother of 23, and great-grandmother of 3. Brenda is a native rural Iowa girl who has also lived in Texas, Kansas, and California before returning home to her roots. She was raised on a farm in central Iowa, sharing a house with her parents and 7 other siblings. Brenda now enjoys living in the wide-open spaces of rural Iowa with her husband Steve and their family pets —two Yorkie’s, and three horses. Brenda is an active member of Heartland Church and a former  local real estate agent, with over 17 years of service. In her spare time, Brenda enjoys reading and learning new things. Brenda’s history includes working with CASA for at-risk children, volunteer services with a safe home for young women at risk, and 13 years of foster parenting alongside her husband. She is a graduate of JSMI School of World Evangelism in Fort Worth, TX and has her ministry credentials with Heartland Alliance in Ankeny, IA.
"The belief that everyone is born on purpose for a purpose was the driving force behind my prayerful pursuit of the purpose of my own life. In late January 2015, I found my answer and started the journey of walking in my God-given, God-ordained destiny. Garden Gate Ranch was birthed out of that pursuit, combining an endless passion for God with a deep compassion for His people."

Lauren
Development Director 

Lauren is a devoted wife who grew up on a farm in Central Iowa. Due to her roots, she has always been an enthusiast for adventure. She finds great joy in the outdoors whether hiking trails, mountain climbing, playing sports, running, rock climbing or simply walking. Lauren enjoys traveling with her husband, spending time with loved ones, and reading good books. She attended Nebraska Christian College where she received her BA in student ministries. Her passion is freedom —seeing people defy odds and become what they desire to be in every aspect of life. As a certified Life Coach, Lauren assists others in attaining their goals and dreams. She currently holds 3 certifications: ROAD Certified Life Coach, Destiny By Design Certified Life Coach, and Lifeforming Certified Growth Coach. She appreciates the uniqueness of each individual, believing every person’s life story has the power to impact and change our world.

Brooke
Development Coordinator 

Brooke grew up in a family passionate about living out their faith, fighting injustice and serving others. God used volunteer opportunities and family missions trips to prick her heart with a desire to walk alongside those overcoming addiction, abuse and dysfunctional home lives. At 17 years old, Brooke began to pray that God would show her how He intended to use this heart He had formed in her. After praying that prayer for three weeks, God answered and directed Brooke to the issue of sex trafficking. From then on, God connected Brooke with incredible people, ministries, and opportunities in the fight against this issue. To this day, Brooke stands amazed and humbled by all that God has done in her life, as it surpasses anything she could have imagined. Brooke graduated from Bethel University with a BA in Psychology and is passionate about walking alongside others and training up leaders in Christ so that, together, we can set the captives free.

Colleen
​Bookkeeper 

Colleen is a dedicated wife, a wise mentor, and a lover of animals. She grew up in rural Iowa surrounded by her family, and now lives on an acreage with her husband and their many pets. After graduating from AIB with a business degree, Colleen began to climb the corporate ladder of the accounting world, attaining so high a status as second in command for a million dollar construction company. But her success was not satisfying, and after many interactions with a Christian coworker, Colleen finally found fulfillment in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The joy and healing that followed her conversion filled a void that no status or achievement ever could, and it fueled a desire to use her gifts for the service of God and others. In Jesus, Colleen found healing and restoration from past trauma, and she longs to see this same grace transform victims and perpetrators alike. Today, she lends her gifts to Garden Gate Ranch for the expansion of God’s Kingdom, and for the healing of all those He loves.

Aubrey
​Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Aubrey is a twenty-something creative from the suburbs of Des Moines. She grew up in a Christ-following family of 5 and now lives with her husband and dog in rural Iowa. After graduating from Dordt University with a degree in graphic design, Aubrey spent 8 months abroad in 4 different countries, immersed in Christian discipleship and anti-human trafficking training. Through her work with Garden Gate Ranch, she exercises her passions for art, justice, and restoration as the team’s Marketing & Communications Coordinator. Aubrey desires to see all people awaken to their God-given identity, knowing that freedom and joy are found in the wholeness of His love. She longs to see the Lord complete the work ascribed to Him in Isaiah 61 — that all would be set free.

Leah
​Direct Care Coach

Leah is a loyal wife and mother of two. Born and raised in Webster City, Iowa by a devoted mother, she grew up a middle child among two brothers. When she met the Lord in 2003, she began the journey of her own freedom. He has directed her path ever since and has worked all things for good, inviting her to follow Him as her Lord and Savior and promising that He would make her a fisher of men, according to Mark 1:17-18. Leah felt the Lord's call on her life, that she would help the hurting overcome the abuse of the world according to 1 Peter 4:4 and that she would do this by serving them according to Mark 10:45. Leah's desire as a Direct Care Coach is to love residents the way that Jesus loves them, and to help them see that they are created as Matthew puts it in Matthew 13:45: Pearls — God's most valuable and sought after treasure that needs no polishing or cutting by man. Each comes complete and luxuriously created by God. 

Rachel
​Direct Care Coach

 Rachel is a wife, biological mother of 4, and honorary mother of 2. After graduating from Northwestern College with a degree in Christian Education and Psychology in 1988, she moved to inner-city NJ to work at Star of Hope Mission. Rachel married her husband in 1990 and, together, they moved to Wisconsin to work as houseparents and, later, managers of the group homes. This journey led them to owning their own treatment foster home for troubled teens. Later in life, after a trying seven months of continual hospital stays for their third child, Rachel and her husband felt they could not go back to "life as normal" again. Instead, they went into full-time ministry, relocating to the Des Moines area in 2013. Here, Rachel and two other women felt called to launch a strip-club ministry in order to reach the area's sexually exploited. Through this ministry, and subsequently learning more about sex trafficking, Rachel felt a strong pull toward doing more for Christ and for her sisters coming out of this horror.

Marcia
​Direct Care Coach

Marcia is happily married to her wonderful husband of 10 years, and together they have a large blended family of 9 children, 18 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Marcia loves to read, play with her dog and make jewelry that she sells at various craft and art shows. She graduated from Liberty University with a degree in criminal justice, and worked and volunteered at various shelters and nonprofits across Iowa before joining Garden Gate Ranch's care staff. Her passion and purpose has always been to assist and serve women who have survived domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Marcia looks forward to walking journeys of healing with the residents at Garden Gate Ranch and watching as God transforms their lives.

Jolynn
​Direct Care Coach

Jolynn is a blessed mother of six, grandmother of two, raised in a Christian family as the youngest of four siblings. She married young and started a family, always leading them to a life of knowing our Savior and His goodness. At the age of 30, a traumatic experience in Jolynn's life left her with a dependence to pain medications that quickly spiraled into addiction, life on the streets, and everything that goes with it. 3 years ago, God reached down and pulled her from that darkness, completely restoring to her all that she had lost and giving her so much more as He put a great calling on her life to help others coming from the same situations. By His saving grace and redeeming love, Jolynn is a new creation and a living testimony of His goodness. She confesses that it is only by His strength and to His glory that she is here today, living a life exceedingly more abundant than she could have ever imagined. Because of the love and rescue that she experienced, Jolynn desires to help other women find the life that they were meant to live, and discover their true identities in Christ. 

OUR BOARD

Board Chair​
Chuck M.
Board Members
Brenda L.
Colleen M.
Terry J.
​​Barb R.
​Chad R.
​Toni R.
Honorary Board Members
​Mike H.
​Steve L.
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