A Unique Healing Environment

When Grace’s anxiety became too big to wrap her arms around, she turned to Amberwing – Center for Youth & Family Well-Being. There, she learned the skills to breathe through difficult moments while feeling validated and supported along the way.

A travel and outdoors enthusiast in his 70s, Eliot had no plans to slow down or cut back on his daily three-mile hikes. Then, a Parkinsonism diagnosis changed everything.

COVID-19 knocked Wayne down, hard and fast. Over the next 3 months, he slowly got back up with the steady help of a dedicated team of rehabilitation specialists who were learning, like the rest of the world, how to adjust during a pandemic.

Getting kids in speech therapy to open up and engage isn’t always easy. But having a cheery black Lab retriever there to greet them and learn alongside them can help. Speech-language pathologist Chelsea Sorvik and Humble the dog work together to bring out the best in kids.

When it comes to traumatic burn injuries—the kind caused by extreme heat and cold, chemicals, electricity and more—the right care can make a life-or-death difference.

Esther died alone, in a motel room. It was a cold, murky morning. The hotel was small and cheap and located just off the freeway.

When your world is changing fast, both inside and around you, it helps to have the right people and skills to lean on. Kale Pierson and his family found that at just the right time.

When Nova enters a room, people light up at the sight of the 120-pound black Newfoundland dog. As an animal therapist, she needn’t say anything. Her mere presence has a calming effect.

Emotional pain from the past can splash into life and relationships without warning. To brace those waves, the Fermenich family tunes into faith, humor and the tools they learned from Amberwing – Center for Youth & Family Well-Being.

Alina Beer cared for her husband for seven years. Married 15 years, the cancer diagnosis was a devastating blow.

Julia Koepp is a seventeen-year-old student, artist and mental health advocate. She wants to go into the mental health care field when she graduates. For now, she’s using her voice—and her art—to share messages of support and healing.

When the health of someone you love is diminishing it’s so hard to know what to do. There’s the fear that you aren’t doing enough, that you could give them more time somehow.

Information overload, stress, anxiety, insomnia, fear, sadness, loneliness, increased substance use, financial instability, illness, grief. The pandemic has affected the mental health of each and every one of us—and to this day, it continues to affect our lives and the lives of those we love.

Janet and Pete were in the midst of spreading their retirement wings when cancer struck and their lives together changed dramatically. Although chemotherapy and radiation initially reduced Pete’s tumors, the discovery of a new tumor led to the difficult choice to discontinue treatment and transition Pete to Solvay Hospice House.

Over 1 in 10 youth in the U.S. are experiencing depression that severely impairs their ability to function at school or work, at home, with family, or in their social life. Thirteen-year-old Sylva falls within that “1 in 10" statistic. Her courage in advocating for herself and seeking the help she needed was remarkable and so was the bravery and responsiveness shown by her mom, Katie and her dad, Scott.

A congenital limb difference in Victoria’s right leg shaped her self-perception and outlook on life. From her teenage years to the present, her story is one of triumph, marked by the discovery of her true capabilities. Through engagement in activities like biking, hiking and kayaking, Victoria embodies resilience, determination and a relentless pursuit of opportunities.