I am writing this story 15 years after graduating the Idaho Youth Ranch program. I am not sure where to pinpoint the anger, shame, rebellion and distrust I had inside, but it sure did get me into a lot of trouble.
Both my parents were physically, mentally and emotionally unstable and abusive to each other. Both had several addictions. When I was 5, my mother�s addiction was so bad she left my dad, me, my little brother and my little sister so she could party her life away until she was put in prison on drug charges.
After the divorce, my dad was a very angry person. He physically and emotionally abused us.
My mom was released from prison shortly after I turned 10. My dad finally agreed to let my little sister and me move in with my mom, but made my little brother stay with him and my stepmom and 3 stepsisters.
Moving in with my mom was a huge transition! There was discipline at first but my mom started getting back into her party ways. We were running the neighborhoods and stealing from stores. I started drinking and smoking cigarettes by age 11. I started huffing inhalants at around 12. I got my first �charge� when my mom came home from partying one night to find us kids reeking of gasoline and called the cops.
I spent a lot of time in juvenile detention. I landed myself a burglary charge at 13 years old. The judge finally decided the probation and juvie was not getting through my thick skull and committed me to the state. The state decided the Idaho Youth Ranch was my best option for recovery.
It was not what I expected at all. I was greeted by other kids like me. I had a room with only one other roommate. I was allowed to have my own clothes. I was allowed to wear my makeup and do my hair-- it was nothing like juvie. As much as I missed my family, the longer I was at the Ranch the more I realized it was better than being at home.
I got to participate in the 4-H program and had a horse named Rocket that I loved so much! Equestrian training was also part of the schooling and therapy. It helped me work on my patience, my listening, my anger, and my trust issues. You�d think I lived at the Ranch for almost 2 years because I loved it so much, but it was actually because it took me that long to work through my issues with authority and my service plan.
Being at the Idaho Youth Ranch taught me so much about life I would not have been able to learn or grasp in the living situation I was in before. It taught me how to build healthy relationships with adults and my peers; to be honest with others and myself. They taught me that there are people who really do care and unselfishly put their own lives aside to help another person discover their self-worth, no matter how long it may take. One other thing that I really am so thankful to the IYR for is the all year-round schooling. I was able to graduate high school because of all the credits I received while living at the Ranch.
Life has definitely not been perfect since graduating the program, because life isn�t always perfect. Yet here I am, a 30-year-old single mom of a beautiful little girl, with whom I got pregnant at 17 years old, and life is good! Tough times still happen in life and things don�t always go as planned, but I am stronger each day.
I know that being at the Ranch helped to shape my character and integrity. I know I am the woman I am today because of the struggles I have been through in my past and the Idaho Youth Ranch program is a very large part of shaping that!
When I moved to Boise and saw all the IYR stores around town I wanted to reach out and see about volunteering to pay back the good I got from the program.
I was able to connect with the alumni coordinator and have gotten to see the IYR from a whole new light! What they have done in the last 15 years with all the different programs and the plans they have for the future just blows my mind!
This organization is truly changing lives and I can�t wait until Hands of Promise is complete out in Middleton so they can continue to bless families in so many ways!
Thank you for saving my life!
Chelsi M. Layton
