Big Springs Ranch for Children, located nine miles north of Leakey on Hwy 83 in the Texas Hill Country, was entrusted to Hill Country Youth Ranch in 1995 through the generosity of Oma Bell Perry (pictured at the opening of first Children’s House with BSRC Ranch Director Michael Priour in 1998), whose vision was to create a place where children could find stability, care, and opportunity.
Miss Perry settled on the land in 1927 and spent decades ranching its rugged canyons. She deeply loved both the land and the children who would one day call it home. Though she never had children of her own, she became a grandmother figure to many, remaining actively connected to the Ranch and its youth until her passing in 2003.
“My mother and sisters and I decided a long time ago that this ranch would be a children's home...a place where the broken can mend”
- Oma Bell Perry, Benefactor of Big Springs Ranch for Children
Oma Bell Perry pictured with HCYR founder Gary Priour at the 1996 Deed Signing Ceremony overlooking the Frio River.
This special event was an historic moment for the Perry family, the Texas Hill Country, and HCYR's commitment to enhance the lives of orphaned and abandoned children through providing a safe and loving home, along with quality educational opportunities, in this beautiful and healing landscape called Big Springs Ranch.