From Struggle to Strength: Jodie’s Journey with Hoyleton Youth & Family Services

Mental health challenges can affect every aspect of a young person's life, from school and relationships to confidence and future goals. Through individualized counseling, trauma-informed care, and compassionate family services, Hoyleton Youth & Family Services helps children, teens, and young adults build resilience and move toward healthier futures. Jodie's story is one example of how the right support can change a life.

When Jodie first came to Hoyleton Youth & Family Services, her family thought the challenges she faced were mostly physical. But after recommendations from the team at Children’s Hospital, they began to see that much of the struggle was rooted in mental and emotional health. That shift in understanding would change everything.

A New Beginning

At first, progress came in small steps. Jodie’s mother could already see she was special—bright, capable, and full of potential—but she needed the right environment to help her shine. From the moment she walked through Hoyleton’s doors, she began to feel supported. Her therapist, Stacy, made the process easy and welcoming. “It was honestly kind of like starting out with a friend,” Jodie recalls.

The Power of Connection

Stacy and Jodie built a strong, trusting relationship—something that Jodie had never experienced in therapy before. “It seemed like everyone at Hoyleton really cares,” she said. That genuine care became the foundation for her healing. Stacy noticed Jodie’s determination from the very start: “She really wanted the help to move forward in her life.”

Milestones and Growth

In just over a year, Jodie’s life began to transform. She was able to process and work through difficult past experiences, attend her high school graduation, and take her first steps into college life. She found a job, built friendships, and gained the confidence to move toward her goals. Small acts of kindness from Stacy—like walking her to her car after sessions and making sure she felt safe—made Jodie feel valued and cared for.

Lasting Impact

For Jodie, Hoyleton has been more than just a place for therapy—it’s been a life-changing support system. She plans to continue therapy beyond her original reason for starting. “It just seems to help everything overall,” she shared.

Stacy sees Jodie as a powerful example of resilience. “She had to deal with a lot of difficult things in her life. She’s a testament to when really bad things happen, we are able to move forward. We are able to do everything you want in your life.”

A Story of Hope

Jodie’s journey reminds us that healing is possible, and with the right support, people can not only recover but flourish. At Hoyleton Youth & Family Services, stories like hers inspire us every day to keep providing compassionate, personalized care that makes a real difference for individuals and their families.

Supporting a Courageous Step: How Hoyleton Walks Beside Youth on Their Journey

Every young person deserves a safe place to explore their identity, express their feelings, and build healthy relationships with trusted adults. Through trauma-informed care, family therapy, and relationship-based support, Hoyleton Youth & Family Services helps youth navigate life's most challenging conversations with compassion and confidence.

At Hoyleton Youth & Family Services, our mission is rooted in creating safe, nurturing, and empowering environments for every young person we serve. Guided by our trauma-informed philosophy and the CARE principles we focus on building meaningful connections that help individuals grow, heal, and thrive. Recently, one of our therapists had the privilege of walking alongside a young client through a transformative and emotional milestone—coming out as transgender to their mother.

Preparing with Compassion and the CARE Model

Using the CARE principles of family-involved and relationship-based the therapist began with thoughtful preparation, ensuring the client felt supported, empowered, and in control. Together, they explored possible questions the client’s mother might ask and practiced responses through gentle role-play.

This rehearsal wasn’t just about readiness, it was about reducing fear, increasing confidence, and offering a sense of predictability during a moment that held both hope and anxiety. These are core elements of trauma-informed care: honoring the young person’s voice, building trust, and strengthening emotional safety. 

A Moment of Courage—Met with Love

When the time came to invite the client’s mother into the session, something remarkable happened. Her very first question was one the client had rehearsed. This small but meaningful moment allowed the young person to answer with calmness and self-assurance.

What followed was powerful. The mother responded with immediate love and support. Tears were shed, a hug was shared, and acceptance filled the room. While the family is choosing to keep this news private from the father for now—anticipating potential challenges—the client gained something deeply important: a safe and supportive person within her family.

Walking the Journey Together

The therapist expressed deep gratitude for being trusted during this personal milestone. This moment marked not an ending, but the beginning of an ongoing journey. Hoyleton’s team will continue to work alongside both the client and her mother, offering tools, guidance, and emotional support as they navigate this transition together.

This is what relationship-based care looks like—supporting youth not only in moments of crisis, but also in moments of courage, growth, and identity.

Creating Safe Spaces Matters

The therapist also noted how the environment at Hoyleton makes a difference. Visible signs of inclusion—pride flags, affirming artwork, and welcoming messages—signal to youth that they are seen, valued, and safe. These intentional touches, grounded in trauma-informed principles and the CARE Model, help young people take brave steps like the one this client took.

Honoring Every Youth’s Journey

At Hoyleton Youth & Family Services, we recognize that each young person’s story is unique. Our role is to walk beside them, offering compassion, stability, and unwavering support. 

Every young person's path is different, but every young person deserves compassionate support, trusted relationships, and a safe place to grow. Through trauma-informed therapy, family involvement, and relationship-based care, Hoyleton Youth & Family Services helps youth build confidence, strengthen family connections, and move toward healthier futures.

We are honored to be part of moments like these—moments of bravery, connection, and hope.

A Bond Beyond Sight: The Story of Myles and the Schippel Squad

Every young person deserves to feel safe, valued, and connected. For youth with developmental disabilities and complex support needs, therapeutic residential care can provide the structure, compassion, and individualized support they need to thrive. Myles' journey at Schippel House is a powerful example of how meaningful relationships can change lives.

A New Beginning at Schippel House

When Myles first arrived at Schippel House, a Hoyleton Youth and Family Services therapeutic residential program for youth with severe developmental delays, he was just 15 years old. Born blind and developmentally delayed, Myles experienced the world through sound, touch, and emotion. From his very first day, the Schippel House team — affectionately known as the Schippel Squad — embraced him with open arms and open hearts.

Helping Youth with Developmental Disabilities Thrive

Through Hoyleton's trauma-informed approach to therapeutic residential care, Program Manager Claudia Lewis and the Schippel House team helped Myles develop communication skills, confidence, meaningful relationships,  and grow into the best version of himself. Every day focused on individualized care, skill development, communication, and helping Myles experience greater independence and confidence.. Over time, Myles’ personality began to shine through — a perfect mix of curiosity, humor, and sweetness.

Claudia remembers him fondly. “Myles was the perfect combination of mischievous youth and sweet boy,” she shared with a smile. “He would laugh so hard when he knew he had our attention.” That laughter became a joyful soundtrack to life at Schippel House, reminding everyone that connection doesn’t always come from words or sight — sometimes, it’s simply felt.

The Importance of Family Involvement

As Myles thrived, so did the relationship between his family and the Schippel Squad. His father, who had been understandably anxious when Myles first entered residential care, quickly noticed how deeply the staff cared for his son. Over the years, they built a strong partnership grounded in trust and compassion. The Schippel team kept Myles’ family closely involved through regular updates, photos, video calls, and visits.

After seven and a half years, Myles aged out of the residential care program at Schippel House. While the team celebrated his transition to a new residential home closer to family, saying goodbye was bittersweet. Myles had become more than a resident — he was family.

A Reunion That Proved the Power of Connection

Almost a year later, Claudia and several team members made the three-hour trip to visit him. They were nervous and excited, unsure if Myles would remember their voices after so much time apart. But as soon as they greeted him, something incredible happened. Myles smiled, laughed, and instantly recognized the people who had loved and cared for him all those years — without ever seeing their faces.

That reunion was a moment of pure joy. It was proof that the bonds built at Hoyleton Youth and Family Services go far beyond sight, sound, or distance. They are built on compassion, trust, and the belief that every young person deserves to be seen, heard, and loved for who they are.

Compassion That Lasts a Lifetime

Claudia and the Schippel Squad carry Myles’ laughter with them every day — a reminder of why they do what they do.

At Hoyleton Youth and Family Services, connection isn’t just part of the mission. It’s the heart of everything. Myles' story is a reminder that therapeutic residential care is about much more than meeting daily needs. It is about building trust, fostering independence, strengthening family relationships, and helping every young person reach their full potential.

Trauma-informed care helps children and young adults with developmental disabilities experience dignity, connection, and hope, creating relationships that continue long after they leave our programs.

 

Finding Home: How Connection and Care Changed One Teen’s Foster Care Story

By the time Tavis turned 16, he had already lived through what many adults never experience in a lifetime—constant transitions, uncertainty, and loss. More than half of his life had been spent in foster homes and residential programs, moving from placement to placement without a lasting sense of belonging. Along the way, he struggled in school, became involved with the legal system, and was often labeled for his behaviors rather than understood for his potential.

Today, Tavis’s story looks very different. After years of uncertainty, he found stability, support, and eventually adoption through a committed family.

After two years in a stable home, his adoption was finalized in the spring of 2025. What changed his trajectory was not a single intervention, but a relationship—one grounded in connection, accountability, and trauma-informed care.

How Trauma-Informed Care Changed Tavis's Future

At the center of that transformation are the CARE principles, particularly being relationship-based and family-involved. These principles are foundational to Hoyleton Youth and Family Services’ trauma-informed approach, and they shaped every step of Tavis’s path to permanency.

“Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued,” writes Brené Brown. “When they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”

The Power of a Supportive Foster Family

For Tavis, that connection came through his adoptive parents, Marvin and Chelsea.

Marvin provides a strong, consistent male role model—someone Tavis can identify with, look up to, and see himself in. Chelsea, a nurse and mother, balances empathy with tough love. She listens carefully to what Tavis says he needs and wants, while also holding him accountable for his choices. Together, they form a united team in raising all of their children as a blended, mixed-race family.

They are intentional in their parenting. They do not reward bad behavior, allowing natural consequences to stand when appropriate and implementing discipline that teaches rather than punishes. As Marvin often says, “Kids make mistakes. Adults make decisions.” Their goal is not perfection, but preparation—equipping their children to navigate the world with confidence, compassion, and perseverance.

Tavis noticed the difference almost immediately.

For the first time, adults truly listened to him. When he said the medication he was on wasn’t helping, Marvin and Chelsea listened. When he explained why therapy was not effective for him in its current form, they listened again. And when he struggled in school settings that didn’t meet his abilities, they advocated fiercely.

Success in School and Life

They worked with the school to remove Tavis from classrooms where he was surrounded by developmentally delayed students—a placement that did not reflect his capabilities or learning needs. This year, the school notified the family that Tavis no longer requires an Individualized Education Plan. He met every goal set before him. His progress has been so remarkable that the school is now using his success as a benchmark for other students.

Chelsea was clear with him from the beginning: “The better you do, the more resources become available to you.” It was a lesson in responsibility and self-belief. With her nursing schedule allowing her to be home during the day to support their family of five, and Marvin stepping in after school to work out with Tavis, play sports, and talk about his dreams, structure and support became constants in his life.

On the field, Tavis is thriving in the sports he loves. Coaches describe him as a leader—focused, disciplined, and encouraging. Off the field, that leadership shows up in the classroom and at home. His parents regularly remind him that he is a leader, reinforcing an identity built on strength rather than survival.

Foster care caseworker Clarence Howard recognized that potential early on. He understood the CARE principles and knew that what Tavis needed most was not another temporary placement, but a family dynamic rooted in relationship, involvement, and accountability. Clarence believed Tavis needed a role model he could identify with—someone who would provide both love and discipline. Matching him with Marvin and Chelsea made all the difference.

Finding Permanency Through Adoption

In a system often defined by impermanence, Tavis’s journey is a powerful reminder of what is possible when trauma-informed care meets genuine connection. When a young person is seen, heard, and valued—not just by professionals, but by a family willing to walk beside them—the results can be life-changing.

For Tavis, foster care is no longer a revolving door. It is a chapter that led him home.

At Hoyleton Youth and Family Services, stories like Tavis's reinforce the importance of supporting children and families at every stage of the foster care journey. Every child deserves the opportunity to heal, grow, and thrive in a safe, loving home.