Mission
What began as the dream of a handful of individuals has become a positive reality for hundreds of young people. In 2000, the Rancho Cielo Board was established as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization for the purpose of developing a comprehensive center of learning and social services for underserved youth in Monterey County. Now-retired Superior Court Judge John M. Phillips witnessed the tragic cycle of offending and incarceration that many young people found themselves in. He wanted to create an effective alternative that would help keep first-time offenders from becoming repeat offenders. The Natividad Boys’ Ranch Rancho Cielo’s 100-acre site was once home to the Natividad Boys’ Ranch, a juvenile incarceration facility that lay dormant for almost twenty years before it was taken over by Rancho Cielo in 2000. A surplus-furniture dumping ground for the County, the Ranch had great potential but required a lot of work and investment to make it useful. The County Administration said that it would cost upwards of $20M to refurbish the property properly, the local business community and private donors upgraded the property for less than $2M.