Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation
Together, We Build Stronger Futures for Youth.
When Yellowstone Academy’s (YA) Casper Education Center was completed in 1965, YBGR was a facility for troubled boys. Today, YBGR is an accredited youth mental health treatment center, and the boys and girls who now attend YA require a higher level of care and supervision.
The main bathrooms in Casper were designed like most school buildings with boys’ and girls’ bathrooms each having multiple stalls, allowing several individuals to use the bathroom at the same time. However, due to safety concerns, more than half of YA students must have an adult accompany them to the bathroom and wait outside, and only one youth can be in the bathroom at a time, often causing long wait times to use the bathroom.
Remodeling the Casper bathrooms would create four single-use bathroom units plus a monitoring area for staff to wait in. In addition, portable panels can be used in anyone of the bathrooms to provide some privacy for students who are on suicide watch and require an adult to be in the same room, increasing the safety of the most at-risk students attending YA.
Will you help us improve the comfort and safety of youth struggling with mental health challenges?
Consider a gift to Yellowstone Foundation in support of Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch and similar organizations that treat youth facing the damage severe trauma has had on their lives.
For more information Contact us Today!
Call 406.656.8772 | Email abigail@yellowstonefoundation.org
volleyball season is over, and in addition to winning on the court, the girls who participated racked up personal wins: improved communication skills, teamwork, confidence, and so many more important life lessons!
When Christina entered foster care at just 6 years old, she had already endured abuse, trafficking, and homelessness. Diagnosed with PTSD, she and her siblings were removed from their biological mother and placed in state care.
From the start, the YBGR Dillon Community Based Services team wrapped around Christina with in-home support, case management, and therapy—giving her and her caregivers the tools to find stability and build strength, but multiple moves and uncertainty slowed her healing process.
At age nine, Christina was placed with Tina, her now adoptive mom who did her best to offer a sense of security, but Christina struggled to believe she was truly home. When her infant sister moved in too, she asked, “When do I need to go pack my bags? I know I have to leave because when a baby comes, there’s not enough love to go around.”
Christina’s team continued supporting her, helping her process fears while encouraging her love for art and music. Creativity became her refuge, a way to express emotions too heavy for words. As Christina gained confidence, she no longer needed in-home support, transitioning to just case management—providing care coordination and advocacy—along with therapy. But as she spoke more openly about her trauma with friends, she scared them, leading to strained relationships and escalating emotions.
Currently, a short-term stay in the residential treatment program at YBGR is giving Christina the intensive therapy she needs to stabilize and heal. With structure and care, she picked up her sketchpad again, using art to process her experiences in ways conversation never could. With community care still in place and therapeutic work happening with family, Christina is preparing to move back home this summer, ensuring her progress at the Ranch carries forward.
*For the privacy of the youth served at the Ranch, names have been changed. Image(s) shown here are a representation of those served at the Ranch.
The Winter 2025 Wrangler Newsletter is now available online!
In this issue, you will learn about how:
The Wrangler publication reports on the direct working relationship of the Ranch with children and the Foundation’s activities in fundraising for the benefit of at-risk youth.
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Like what we do? Share the Wrangler’s inspiring stories with family and friends. And remember, your tax-deductible gifts make it all possible!
Where: Yellowstone Foundation – 2050 Overland Ave
When: March 6th | 12:00 PM
EIN# 81-0419905
Gifts to Yellowstone Boys & Girls Ranch Foundation are deductible for income tax purposes within IRS regulations.
