Leona Little Cub had seen and experienced a great deal of trauma in her 12 young years. She was taken from her parents at an early age and bounced from placement to placement in foster care. “I had lost a lot of my traditions along the way, being in homes of those from different tribes or ones that were not Native, and I felt lost and confused. When Josie asked if I wanted to go to Daughters of Tradition, I was nervous but hopeful,” recalls Leona.
Daughters of Tradition is a White Bison program in communities nationwide that helps young girls ages 8-13 connect with Native American customs. They share a meal family style with other attendees and participate in Native customs like games or crafts. Josie Brady, the Native American Services Coordinator at YBGR, started arranging weekly passes for young Native American girls at the Ranch to go this fall. “We haven’t had Native American girls that young, and now that we do, I wanted to take them so they can connect with their culture in a small but meaningful way. I love taking them to Powwows and other bigger events, but at Daughters of Tradition, they can form connections and community which has been big for these young girls,” says Josie.
“I had so much fun and even ran into someone from my tribe that I knew at the first event. It was comforting to see a familiar face but also to see so many girls like me. Our stories are all different but the longing for connection and family is the same. YBGR has someone who looks like me running the program. She takes us places to connect with other people from our tribes, teaches us, and helps us heal from our hurts with traditional methods,” says Leona. “These all may seem like little things, but they add up in a big, healing way.”
*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.
John and Selene are long-time donors to Yellowstone Foundation, and in addition to both outright and planned gifts, they have hosted several donor appreciation events at their home. As John and Selene approach retirement, they have begun the process of estate planning. One asset they were no longer actively using was a 1929 Ford Model A Coupe that John won in a raffle several years ago. After some discussion, they decided to donate it to Yellowstone Foundation, and the car was delivered to the Auto Barn at YBGR.
When Nina came to YBGR in early spring of 2024, she was a tough nut to crack. According to her therapist Audrey, “She wouldn’t open up and talk to me so that we could start the healing process. Then, during a conversation with Nina’s mom, I learned that if Nina had a project to do with her hands, she would open up more. We looked online for some ideas, and Nina wanted a vertical pallet herb garden, so I found a pallet, and we got to work.”
Through the process of sanding the rough pallet, Nina finally started to open up to Audrey. It took several weeks of hand sanding to get all the rough spots smoothed out, and by July, they were ready to paint the pallet and plant the herb seedlings that they had started from seeds. Now the Leuthold herb garden is proudly on display at the lodge, and soon the youth will be able to harvest fresh herbs to add to their meals. Nina is now working towards successfully discharging and looking forward to going home.
In April 2022, Tony and his young sons were referred to YBGR’s Child Welfare Prevention and Support Services. At the time, Tony was homeless, unemployed, and struggling with substance use, but he was determined to rebuild his life and be there for his children. He spoke kindly about their mother and expressed a desire to raise his boys with strong values and faith. Tony used community resources for food and diapers, entered treatment for substance abuse, and worked towards obtaining his Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) at Flathead Community College. He also joined Flathead Family Treatment Court, adhering to all its requirements.
Like many youth in YBGR’s residential treatment program, Leah had a chaotic upbringing. Her parents struggled with addiction and were in and out of jail. She was bounced from her parents to her grandparents to foster care and back again so many times, she lost count of all the different places she had lived. When Leah was fourteen, she started getting into trouble. Her grandparents hired an attorney and were finally able to get full custody of her, but Leah continued to get into trouble, plagued by feelings of hopelessness and abandonment. She was going to therapy, but her grandparents felt like she needed more than an hour a week and sought services at YBGR.
Beth needed a fresh start. Her parents died when she was a toddler, and she had bounced from family to foster homes and back again. Beth had never dealt with her trauma from her parent’s death, and that made it hard to form connections with people. She started to believe that everyone was always going to leave her because she was unworthy of love. Things started to change when she moved back in with her aunt Donna.
Ryan struggled to express himself. Words did not come easily, and he often felt misunderstood. When he arrived at YBGR, he didn’t think it was going to be any different than any other facility he had been to, but that all started to change when he met Yellowstone Academy Art teacher Mr. Small.
Jordan’s family struggled to make ends meet and often did not have reliable transportation. “I wanted to learn how to fix cars so I could help my family. We couldn’t afford a new car or to pay for a mechanic when things broke down. My mom and I were able to do some things from internet videos, but that didn’t always work,” recalls Jordan. “When I learned that we would have a chance to learn how to work on cars at the Ranch through the Basic Automotive Care & Maintenance Class, I jumped at the opportunity. Tim Gilge, the instructor, taught me not just about how to fix a car, but also how to stay safe while doing it, and how to maintain the car so it needed less work down the road.”
When Amanda arrived at Kohls with her lodge mates last week for YBGR’s annual Secret Santa shopping trip, she was overwhelmed. She had never gone shopping at a store where the clothes were new. Everything she owned was a hand-me-down or from a garage sale or Goodwill. It all felt too good to be true. Why would some stranger want her to have money to spend on herself for new clothes and shoes?
