What's New

Every Child Matters Healing Walk will be held September 24, 2021, starting at Skypoint in downtown Billings.  Ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. and the walk will proceed through downtown to remember, support and honor the lost and the survivors of Indigenous Residential Boarding Schools.

Lyndsey Stepetin, RAPP Coordinator at Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, will be assisting students with preparing posters for the event which will include drumming, smudging ceremonies, history lessons, and presentations by local service providers. 

For more information about this year’s event, contact the Billings Urban Indian Health & Wellness Center 406-534-4558.

Stockman Bank has a Back-To-School Challenge for you!

Kids are heading back to the classroom and Yellowstone Foundation is pleased to announce that Stockman Bank will match all donations, dollar-for-dollar, up to $5,000 for much needed back-to-school supplies. 

Help us meet the needs of the children attending YBGR’s Yellowstone Academy this fall.

Yellowstone Academy (YA) is the fully accredited K-12 school located on the YBGR campus.  Youth in both the Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility and the Day School Program attend classes at YA and of those students, 3 out of 4 are considered low income.

Give by September 13th to Double Your Gift and help special needs children get the tools they need to succeed in the classroom!

 

When Tami arrived at YBGR, she was sad, angry, and only thinking about when she could leave.  Tami had been in and out of placements most of her life and had spent the last three years in treatment facilities.  She figured that YBGR and staff were no different, that it was just a place for the state to warehouse her until her mom got out of treatment and got her back or a foster family was found that was willing to take a kid with mental health struggles.

Now six months later, Tami’s outlook on YBGR has changed dramatically.  She has progressed through treatment while gaining new skills and insights.  She has worked hard on her communication skills, something she has always struggled with, and is now a “high trust” youth who gets to work with staff to give tours now that the campus has reopened to visitors.

On a recent call with her mom, who has completed inpatient treatment and is now in a halfway house in Arkansas, Tami asked her mom to reach out to her treatment team to find out about resources in Yellowstone County.  Tami wants her mom to continue her treatment in Montana where Tami can still have access to Ranch programs.  She is still excited about completing her treatment but wants to remain a YBGR kid.

According to Tami, “My caseworker has looked and there are no resources for me in Arkansas like there are here.  I can still get YBGR case management, YBGR staff are in the schools, and there is the Supported Employment Program.  There are people who will work with me to help me find a job that works for me and my mental health and will continue to grow my communications skills and help me reach my goals.  I have been to a lot of places, and no one has ever offered me that.  I want to stay a YBGR kid until I am too old to be one anymore.”

Your gift makes possible YBGR’s transformative therapeutic programs that impact the lives of children like Tami.  – Thank you!

(To protect her identity, Tami’s name and image are not hers, but her story is real.)

Yellowstone Foundation has a winning strategy for donors contemplating the sale of appreciated property.

Meet Cliff and Georgia, retired landlords who used their apartment complex to generate both immediate cash and fund a Charitable Remainder Trust.

This Sell Part/Give Part plan allows property owners to have the best of all worlds – immediate cash proceeds, charitable deductions that off-set capital gains tax, and future income. 

Call us today and let us show you how!

Don’t let your cash Rollover and Play Dead.

This young lady and her canine pal can teach you a New Trick.

A Yellowstone Gift Annuity will Retrieve immediate tax savings for you!

You’ll Sit Up and Beg for guaranteed income for life. 

Speak to us and find out what a Yellowstone Gift Annuity can do for you!

 

WORK WORKS! is the cover story in the Summer edition of the Wrangler Newsletter.  

Since 2015, the YBGR Individual Placement and Supported Employment Program (IPS) has help find meaningful employment for at-risk youth like Daniel.  A 2020 graduate of Yellowstone Academy, Daniel worked with a YBGR Employment Specialist to find a suitable job.  His first placement was not successful.  But Daniel’s dreams of employment did not end there.  

Take a moment to read Daniel’s story and learn how IPS empowers youth to live healthy, productive lives through employment.

Like what we do?  Share the Wrangler’s inspiring stories with family and friends.  And remember, your tax-deductible gifts make it all possible!

The beekeeping program at YBGR is buzzing.  Begun in 2017, YBGR youth learn all aspects of beekeeping by caring for the Ranch’s hives, extracting honey to sell, and learning about the essential role pollinators play on the Ranch and in our world.  Thanks to a generous donor, YBGR bees will be getting a hive upgrade soon.  Stay tuned!

RDO Equipment Co. and the Offutt Family Foundation generously made a grant to YBGR for the SMART Room Expansion Project. SMART Room technologies, such as interactive whiteboards, engage students’ audio and visual senses and help them break out of their shells and build communication skills.  Digital classroom technologies available to Yellowstone Academy students and youth enrolled in Community Based Services programs help teachers address special needs and develop student abilities and performance.

Pictured:  Kim Chouinard of YBGR/CBS accepts check from John Hurd of RDO

Government encourages charitable giving and Uncle Sam will actually pick up a portion of every gift given to Yellowstone by providing you with a CHARITABLE INCOME TAX DEDUCTION.

Take advantage of the Universal Charitable Deduction which Congress has extended for tax year 2021. This CARES ACT charitable provision is a special tax deduction up to $300 for cash gifts to charity this year even if you do not itemize on your tax returns. For itemizers, the increased deduction cap to 100% of donor’s annual income for cash gifts has also been extended through 2021.

Uncle Sam thanks you . . . for giving generously!

A generous donor and Ebay seller has set up an Ebay For Charity site benefiting Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation. Ten percent of sales from this site will come to Yellowstone through our PayPal Giving fund.

Browse through over 1200 items including trading cards, comic books, music memorabilia, and much more. If you find a tchotchke you can’t live without, treat yourself and Yellowstone too!

During the first of week of June, YBGR youth and staff participated in a campus-wide spring cleaning day. 

Kids helped pick up around the school and their lodges.  They raked leaves, pulled weeds, and helped mulch their newly planted flowers. 

Staff power-washed lodges, cleaned up landscaping, and painted the exteriors of several buildings, including the Guest House. 

A festive picnic lunch was served up in each youth lodge and for the staff in the dining hall.

Thanks to all for your hard work!

Cooper is a 7-week old male Golden Retriever who came to live at YBGR this April.  Cooper is in training to become a Therapy Dog.

Cooper will join Emmy Lou, a 7-year old female Golden Retriever, who is the Ranch’s current certified therapy dog through the Delta Society and Pet Partners. 

There are many benefits to Pet Therapy for both the mental and physical health of YBGR youth, including; providing comfort, lowering anxiety, creating play activity, and offering unconditional love.

It takes a special dog to be a Therapy Dog at Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch and we look forward to young Cooper growing up to join our team.