Next Steps for Encounter at New Canaan Ranch
Encounter’s long standing dream of providing world class intensives and residential treatment to women is in sight.
Read below to see the future plans for Encounter. Contribute Here
Creating a Refuge for Women To Heal From Their Wounds And Become Whole Again.
Using a cutting-edge therapy approach in a Christ-Centered environment.
Second Generation Family Owned
“Have you ever had a God-given dream become reality? In 2001, when Capstone Treatment Center opened, we saw our dream of bringing healing to young men and their families come to life. We also had a dream to do the same for young women. Now that we’ve secured the location for our new women’s program encounter at New Canaan Ranch, that dream is in sight!”
-Adrian Hickmon, Ph.D | Founder and Clinical Architect of Capstone Wellness
Our Driving Passion
The Hickmon family is no stranger to the immense pain trauma can inflict. Joanna’s grandmother was living in such an abusive environment that she gathered her children, including Joanna’s mother, who was 12 at the time, and escaped in the middle of the night to begin a new life. Although Joanna’s mother experienced a traumatic upbringing, her life turned around when she met the love of her life, Joanna’s dad, Joe Webb. They quickly fell in love, got married, and had five children. Joe Webb was born in 1928 and grew up near Lamar, Arkansas. He began training horses at a young age.
Webb first began training Tennessee Walking Horses after meeting Dr. Porter Rodgers while attending college. Rodger’s later owned Rodgers Perfection, Webb’s first World Grand Champion. Webb trained Tennessee Walking Horses exclusively out of a show stable in Searcy. He trained the World Grand Champions Rodger’s Perfection, winner in 1959; Perfectionist’s Carbon Copy, winner in 1964; and Mark of Carbon. In 1978, Mark of Carbon, Webb’s third World Grand Champion, beat 15 other horses to win the stake. The same year as Mark of Carbon’s win, Webb was named Walking Horse Trainer of the Year. Webb wrote a how-to book entitled The Care and Training of the Tennessee Walking Horse, which was first published in 1967.
Joanna’s Story
Joanna’s mother was always right beside Joe, setting up events, doing the books, and running the show. She was the spark in every room. Together, they were magical. But that changed when Joanna’s brother Michael died of leukemia at age 13. Joanna’s mom, who had been so full of light, had a complete mental breakdown.
Joanna was 11 years old at the time, and what she recalls most was the profound silence. “Shhh,” dad often said, “we’ve got to be quiet; mom needs her rest.” Her family never talked about Michael’s death again. What followed was her mother’s descent into darkness. Well-meaning doctors came to their home, giving her pills and shots to ease her pain, but nothing mended the shattered pieces of her mom’s tender spirit. Her depression worsened, and she became suicidal, so they admitted her to a private psychiatric hospital. Her mother suffered from many cycles of depression, suicide attempts and hospital stays. Eventually, the money ran out for private care and state mental hospitals became the new norm. New drugs and shock treatments became standard. This meant her trauma was not processed and healed, it was buried and endured.
Joanna recalls their first drive to the hospital: “I will never forget the first time we took her to the state mental hospital. Dad drove, while I held mom down in the backseat. I believe that after enduring her childhood abuse, when Michael died, she simply could not carry the weight of one more trauma.”
This painful chapter fueled a long-standing dream in the Hickmon family to create a safe haven for women to receive the help her mother never got, but so desperately needed. A refuge for women to heal from their wounds, and become whole again.
Encounter at New Canaan Ranch will be that place! Encounter will offer a caring, supportive, Christ-centered environment for women ages 18 to 30. At Encounter, women will find a safe place to voice their story. Our team will dig into the roots of trauma and give women the tools needed to create lasting change.
“We are especially excited to continue my parents legacy by using equine therapy in the healing process.” – Joanna Webb Hickmon
Using cutting-edge therapy approaches, women will be set free to live a whole and healthy life and be who God created them to be. We are thrilled to launch this program and hope you will join us in making our dream a reality.§
An Equine Program With Familial Roots
Our equine program continues a legacy. Two of our horses come from the lineage of Roger’s perfection – The World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse trained by Joanna Hickmon’s father, Joe Webb.
Our Horses
Loading
We are seeking partnerships that push forward the future of mental health & wellness.
Our Committed Partners who were first through the door.
Coca-Cola Consolidated
The Capstone Foundation is pleased to announce a generous $2 million donation from Coca Cola Consolidated of Arkansas. This transformative gift will enable the Foundation to support Encounter at New Canaan Ranch, a residential treatment program designed specifically for young women struggling with trauma, mental health, addictions, co-occurring disorders, and other hurts.
Encounter, a subsidiary of Capstone Wellness, has provided residential treatment and mental health and wellness services in central Arkansas for over 23 years.
The Capstone Foundation is deeply grateful for this extraordinary act of generosity from Coca Cola Consolidated of Arkansas. This $2 million donation is a crucial step forward for The Capstone Foundation and, more importantly, for the young women whose lives will be transformed by Encounter at New Canaan Ranch. This program will fill a critical need for an underserved population and empower these women to reclaim their lives. A donation of this magnitude shows the commitment Coca Cola Consolidated is making to support a world-class treatment program in their home state of Arkansas.
Partner With Encounter
Help Encounter take the next step to provide world-class care in a Christ-Centered environment.
