SHELBY COUNTY, AL — King's Home recently unveiled a new addition to its Equine Therapy Program, dedicating their new barn at King's Stables as "The Morton Family Barn" in honor of beloved donors, the Morton Family.

The family includes Barry and Catherine Morton along with their adult children Lynn Morton Schrago, Bill Morton, Katherine Morton Gurley, Mary Dorothy Morton, and Catherine's parents Mary and Bob Byrd of Mobile.

In 2012, King's Home welcomed a new program called King's Stables, which serves as the Equine Therapy Program for the residents of King's Home and other nonprofit partners. The program has substantially expanded since its beginning, and with the opening of the barn Thursday, future growth plans are on the horizon.

Due to the Morton family's generous donation, which provided the new expansion of King's Home's Equine Therapy Program, King's Stables has a brand new blue and tan Morton Barn boasting gorgeous woodwork with a 120-foot long welcoming front porch with ceiling fans and benches.

This 12-stall horse barn includes one birthing stall. Each stall has an automatic watering bowl, rubber floor mats for easy cleaning and easy access feed pan and hay rack accessible from the barn corridor. The barn also features a tack room and feed room with a working sink and counter.

The barn is also home to a climate-controlled office and classroom with kitchenette and ice maker, two ADA accessible bathrooms and 20 parking bays including one ADA van accessible spot.

"Our family has always had a heart for ministry groups working with children and it's always a blessing when we visit a King's Home facility. We're so thankful for the faithful leadership of John Hall as the project manager and the beautiful woodwork by Chris Waldren," Catherine Morton said. "We know that spending time with God's creation in a beautiful setting is the greatest therapy and this barn will make a great impact on many lives at King's Home."

The King's Home Equine Therapy Program strives to help residents and other participants develop needed skills and character traits, such as accountability, self-confidence, responsibility, problem-solving skills and self-control.

The program has more than 100 participants with an average of 80 sessions each month. These include King's Home residents, nonprofits, homeschool groups, community members and volunteers. The program is led by Callie Smelley and Kelly Bloomfield.

"The Morton Family's generous gift is a lasting legacy that God will use to transform lives of abused youth, moms, and kids at King's Home plus many others for decades to come," said King's Home president Lew Burdette.