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.
“Donna was only 20 when my parents died and wasn’t ready to take on a toddler. Now that she is married with kids of her own, she was ready to give me a home, but I didn’t know how to connect and was making bad choices because of the friends that I had made. My aunt knew that something needed to change for me, so she sent me to YBGR.”
Beth struggled at first. She felt she was just being sent away again because of how unlovable she was, but Donna showed up every week without fail for family therapy sessions. She also talked with Beth daily, sent her care packages, and visited as often as she could. Beth slowly started to trust Donna.
“My big turning point came when I was in Vo-ag, and we were trimming the trees in the orchard. Mr. Klemple explained that we had to trim back some of the dead branches so the tree could be healthy and produce fruit. At a counselling session that day, my therapist and I talked about how I am like a tree and that working on my trauma was like trimming out the dead or dying branches so that I could focus my energy on the healthy parts and grow and produce fruit as well. It all just finally clicked into place for me. I’m continuing to make progress in my treatment, and my aunt is going to let me plant fruit trees in the backyard when I get home so that I can always remember the lessons I learned here.”
*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.
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?
Getting your first job is a rite of passage, and for most youth, it is accomplished with relatively little difficulty. But for some, getting a job can be an ordeal. When Melissa turned fifteen, she wanted to get a job and start earning her own money. Her family didn’t have a lot, and she wanted to contribute and start saving as well. When she talked with prospective employers, however, she struggled to sit still and have a conversation and was having difficulty getting hired. Through school, she was referred to YBGR’s Supported Employment Program (SEP) and started meeting with Erica Kern, an SEP Specialist. Together, they worked on the skills and tools she needed to find employment. After a few weeks, Erica noticed that Melissa was able to have great conversations, as long as she had a task to focus on. Erica reached out to a few potential employers and was able to arrange a working interview for Melissa at a local stable. “It was so great! I was able to groom the horse while they asked me questions. Brushing the horse took all the nerves away, and I was able to get the job because I could calm my mind and body with work. I am so excited to have a job now! And I get to work with the horses each day,” says a grateful Melissa.
Lester* is one of our younger youths. He has struggled with Christianity and religion in general because he has been told by multiple people since he was little that he was going to hell. Lester was convinced by a staff to go to Chapel one Sunday, and I saw him for the first time in the crowd. He was crying. After Chapel, I heard his staff and a peer talking to him, and they encouraged him to talk with me. Lester then came up to me and asked, with tears in his eyes, “Is it true?” I was confused. “Is what true?” I replied. “That God really loves us, and that heaven is real?” My heart broke. Was this the first time he had ever heard the gospel? We prayed and I shared with him several verses in scripture pointing to God’s love, acceptance, and grace. The next week, he was in Chapel and has been almost every week since.
Life can be full of tough choices, but for some youth at YBGR, the hardest decisions of their life are faced at a very young age. Kensi was 16 when she was placed in YBGR’s Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility. She had been abused by a family member, and she was struggling with what to do, how to heal, and whether she should testify against her abuser in court. One Sunday after Chapel service, Kensi approached Chaplain John Boeder and asked to talk with him. In their first meeting, she asked a lot of questions like “What do I do to get better?” and “How does God love me if this happened?” so they talked for some time about the importance of both mental health AND spiritual health.
Carlee felt lost and hopeless when she entered YBGR in the winter of 2022. Her struggles with mental health issues had led to bullying at school. She had given up on her music and felt that she didn’t have a future. After arriving at YBGR, Carlee started working with Audrey, one of YBGR’s therapists, and together they worked on processing Carlee’s trauma and challenges. She also started classes at Yellowstone Academy (YA), the fully accredited K-12 school on YBGR’s campus, which included a music class.
Susan Bravebird came to YBGR in the Fall of 2021 from foster care. Dealing with mental health issues and the after effects of trauma had caused her to fall behind her peers not only academically but also in basic skills like telling time or knowing the value of coins. As all youth in the residential treatment program do, she began attending classes at YBGR’s Yellowstone Academy, and she and her teachers focused on getting her caught up academically through the Credit Recovery program. Her therapist Audrey purchased workbooks, a child’s cash register, play money, and a toy clock to help Susan get up to speed with her peers and not feel so self-conscious about her lack of basic life skills. She was able to master those and more.
Samantha* struggled in school. Her body seemed to have a mind of its own, often resulting in very exaggerated gestures. She didn’t have any friends because she was the “weird kid” who often felt too big, and sometimes too small, for her own body.
