Tom Ward and Trent Ward’s original inspiration for White Fields came from an old group home in Guthrie, Okla.  Wondering how the child placement system had improved over the years, the Wards began researching the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and how the placement options for abused and neglected children had changed.

The Wards created White Fields after studying the current Department of Human Services child placement needs in Oklahoma.  In their four-year research process, they discovered that some children are unable to manage in foster care or adoptive homes and consequently make many moves within the DHS system. 

The Wards specifically researched the only boy’s home in the state that accepts 6- to 12-year-old severely abused and neglected boys.  These boys require intensive counseling to overcome their emotional, behavioral and/or adjustment problems.  The Wards noticed that once these boys arrived in a group home setting and realized they would not be moved to another home for misbehavior, they began to show dramatic improvement.  However, the boys eventually became too old for the home and had to move yet again.  The fears associated with starting all over in unfamiliar surroundings were often too great, and the progress made while in treatment was quickly abandoned.  The Wards concluded that Oklahoma needed a continuum of care home for severely abused and neglected children. 

Tom Ward
Chairman and chief executive officer of SandRidge Energy Inc., Tom Ward has always looked ahead when it comes to setting new standards.  Looking to his next endeavor in collaboration with his son, Tom is undertaking a subject he and his family care much about – the healing and development of troubled children.  In April 2006, Tom was named a Friend of Children Honoree by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy.

“I see White Fields as a place of permanence,” said Tom Ward.  “It’s a place these children can call home, where they are loved unconditionally and where they can finally begin to heal.  We have been very blessed in our own lives and believe it is our calling to help these children.”  

Trent Ward
Co-founder of White Fields, Trent Ward is a graduate of Anderson University in Anderson, Ind. Trent serves as a director for White Fields and also serves on the board of directors for Oklahoma Lawyers for Children.

“Our primary goal is to provide these boys the home and family they always deserved but never got to experience,” said Trent Ward.  “We will help them grow and eventually become independent, productive members of our community.”