Our History

ACF is a 501c3 that was founded in Baggs, WY to provide assistance to seniors and other persons of advanced medical needs related to age. The ACF goal is to help aging members of our community that place a high value on their independence, friendships, healthy lifestyle, and healthcare maintain their independent lifestyles in our community.

Our mission is to enrich the aging experience by providing opportunities for healthy and purposeful living. This benefits not just our community residents, but also their families, our staff, and the greater community.

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In 1995, Snyder Oil company purchased a four-acre parcel of property located on the west side of Baggs and annexed it inside the city limits. Snyder went on to merge with Devon Energy several years later and as gas prices rose, the Washakie Field became the number one asset in Devon’s Western Division. To accommodate their growth, Devon developed the property at 15 Last Street as it existed at the time of donation to the ACF in 2022.

The construction of Devon’s first of two office buildings on the property took place in 2005. The same year, a study was completed by the Wyoming Rural Development Council that outlined a list of projects that the LSR community needed to ensure this community could provide health, wellness and community service items for its residents. To help facilitate these needs, the Rural Health Care District was formed in 2006 and funded via a local mil levy. The RHCD board was tasked with allotting funding to community groups for medical enhancement items related to the town’s needs and the Rural Development study. Among the items identified in the 2005 study were a community center, daycare, full time EMS staff, more clinic staffing, expanded medical services, home health, pharmaceutical options, public health, and an assisted living facility.

In 2013 Devon erected the second, office facility located within the complex, bringing the total facility square footage to 34,000 SF. Around the same time, the Wyoming Rural Development Council updated their study and acknowledged that the construction of the preschool and community center, and the addition of full time EMS staff, and an AWD ambulance were significant accomplishments by the Little Snake River Valley since the 2005 study. 

A quote from Tom Johnson, the Southeast Regional Director of the Wyoming Business Council, speaks volumes about the community’s accomplishments between the two studies. 

“Since its last community assessment, the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) has accomplished as much as any community in Wyoming with respect to community and economic development. Identified projects in the last assessment were a community center, a pre-school, and a local newspaper. Residents of the Little Snake River Valley have accomplished all three. 

For this follow-up assessment, it was clear the needs of the community had evolved and changed to reflect the complexities of a growing town. What had not changed, however, was the one true strength of the LSRV—its people. What we found again and again was the shared spirit of connectedness among all three communities (Baggs, Dixon, and Savery) that has allowed the LSRV to overcome limitations of distance and funding that other communities rarely face. It’s with this spirit that the community needs to face its new challenges.”

Since the completion of the second building in 2013, this complex has transitioned through several operators. Most recently, Crowheart Energy acquired the complex and all associated oil and gas operations in 2017 from its predecessor Linn Energy. After the initial acquisition of approximately one-sixth of the wells in the Washakie Basin, Crowheart immediately began work to acquire additional wells, and subsequently majority operatorship in the Washakie field. In 2021 they succeeded in their efforts and successfully combined the assets previously held by BP, Southland, and Williams under one operatorship. As a result of several years of hard work, Crowheart assumed a field wide operator position in 2021 upon completion of this asset merger. Because of the need for a centralized office among their expanded field position, Crowheart relocated their offices to Wamsutter, WY in the building previously operated by BP America. After the vacation of the office facility on Lash St., Crowheart worked diligently to ensure their previous office space could be used to provide for the betterment of the Little Snake River Valley.

One of the boards that has been working diligently in the community to enhance opportunities for residents in our valley is the Assisted Care Facility Board (ACF), commonly known as the LSR Village, which provides the Community Bus and Homemaker Program. After establishing a volunteer board in 2009, this group worked with the Wyoming Rural Development Council to ensure their goals and direction were congruent with the needs of their community. They obtained their first grant from the Rural Health Care District of $49,793 in November 2012. This funding allowed them to hire a director and bookkeeper which would further allow them to pursue their goals. In 2010, they contracted the first feasibility study with Keith Wilson, Sheridan.

In April of 2013, they fulfilled a major item of the feasibility study with the acquisition of their Village Bus and the subsequent hiring of a driver. This bus provides transportation to community members for medical appointments, shopping, community involvement opportunities, and out-of-town social trips.
In 2014 the board was able to make a significant addition to their outreach. A program was established to provide homemakers to seniors and other members of the community with disabilities or injuries that require assistance. These homemakers are paid professionals that are scheduled to visit persons and provide cleaning services, transportation, and other tasks as simple as providing entertainment like playing games or simply chatting with somewhat homebound seniors.  In 2016 another feasibility study, focusing on senior housing was contracted with Community Builders, Douglas.

The board has focused their efforts on acquiring land and funding to establish a senior housing facility in our community. As Crowheart evaluated their options and worked to ensure their office complex could provide the maximum amount of benefit to the community, the ACF developed a plan that would allow the Crowheart buildings to be used to accomplish several of the items remaining on the 2005 Rural Development study. By converting the smaller of the two buildings into a larger community clinic and the larger of the two buildings into an EMS facility and Senior Apartment complex, the ACF could assist the community with almost all of the items remaining from the 2005 study. Upon presentation of the idea and goals to the Crowheart Energy board, the ACF worked with Crowheart to complete their donation of the buildings.

In late March 2022, the ACF accepted the generous donation of the 34,000 SF office facility owned by Crowheart Energy in Baggs, WY. According to Paul Prestrud, President of the ACF, “The ACF is honored to have been chosen as the recipient of this generous donation that will allow us to further our commitments to this community and expand our services to include community health, wellness, and senior housing.” He went on to say, “This donation will allow the ACF to work with the Rural Health Care District, LSR EMS, and LSR Clinic to create the Crowheart Medical Complex in Baggs.”

With this donation, the ACF applied for additional private grant funding to assist with the remodel and development of the larger medical clinic space, larger EMS facility that will have apartments for on-call personnel, and senior apartments. The ACF closed on funding from Ethos Asset Management in spring of 2022 which will provide the money for the needed facility remodel at these buildings.  With the development of this facility on the horizon, the ACF is pushing forward to ensure that our goals are aligned, and this facility will be an asset to the LSR community and will service residents of all ages for years to come.

As the ACF board moves forward in their efforts, considerable work still needs to be accomplished to ensure the success of this facility. Much of the funding that the ACF currently receives to accomplish their goals of the homemaker program and community bus program comes from grants that the board works diligently to apply for, as well as the tax base of our community provided through the Rural Health District.

As the ACF expands the outreach of programs, Christy Stocks, ACF Treasurer said, “We are looking to secure funding to ensure the long-term success of this new facility. To avoid the struggle that many organizations within our community face, riding the ups and downs of our commercial oil and gas tax base, we are looking to secure a fund that will work like an endowment to generate interest income to offset our long-term operating expenses. We have set a goal of raising a million dollars to help with our long-term viability and ensure we are able to operate without dependence on tax revenues. “

Stocks said, “Through word-of-mouth fund raising, we have been very fortunate and are already on our way toward this goal!” Over the next few months, the residents of the Little Snake River Valley community will be presented with donation opportunities to help reach this goal. The monetary commitments from the community will allow us to ensure that we are able to accommodate seniors from this community regardless of their financial abilities, provide upkeep and maintenance for the clinic and EMS facilities, and provide for other operating expenses that the ACF will incur once the construction phases are completed.

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