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Residential Treatment Services in Ohio were provided to Caidyn at The Buckeye Ranch when she was 15. Since then, she’s also received support from Community-Based Mental Health services. She’s had challenges, but thankfully, she’s learned to turn anger into hope with support from The Buckeye Ranch. 

Learning How to Cope with Mental Health Challenges 

Though Caidyn’s life had never been typical, it started to take sharper turns as she went into adolescence. Into her teens, Caidyn was plagued by feelings of anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide. “Even though I got good grades and stayed out of trouble, feelings of anxiety and depression started to run my life,” reflected Caidyn. 

Unsure of how to manage these feelings, she coped by using drugs and alcohol. The first time she got drunk, she was only 12. An adult in her family served her alcohol without informing her that’s what she was consuming. 

 “I didn’t know what it was at the time, but it gave me relief. Intoxication was the first and only relief I had from my depression and anxiety since symptoms began. So, I began romanticizing self-destruction and using drugs … not necessarily a matter of addiction, but a way to do something drastic that would hopefully get me help.” 

Into high school, she continued to struggle with deep depression and suicidal ideation. “I became determined to harm myself. I didn’t understand how to make sense of the turmoil I was experiencing … I didn’t think I’d make it to age 18. But thankfully, I was connected with The Buckeye Ranch.”

Residential Treatment Services in Ohio: Turning Anger into Healing 

Caidyn was referred to The Buckeye Ranch’s Qualified Residential Treatment Program where she began to understand she was not just experiencing depression and anxiety, but complex post-traumatic stress was also at play.  

On our Residential Treatment Services campus in Grove City, Ohio, youth are provided with in-patient mental health care; individual, group, and family therapy; physical and nutritional healthcare; social emotional coping skill support; and on-site education through South-Western City Schools.  

Our Qualified Residential Treatment Program, which is certified by the State of Ohio, offers assistance for children and youth with serious mental health challenges that are best addressed outside of the home. With amenities ranging from a fitness center to animal-based therapy, our facility provides valuable services to young people dealing with self-harm, substance abuse, physical and verbal aggression, suicidal ideation, and other significant issues. 

“The dedication to a trauma-informed care approach at The Buckeye Ranch shone light on an aspect of my treatment that had been completely overlooked,” shares Caidyn. “Understanding this missing piece of my trauma helped me to begin forgiving myself. I still work on this today with my clinician, Kellee, whose continuous support has saved my life, time and time again.” 

Caidyn was at The Buckeye Ranch’s Residential Treatment Services campus for a little over a year. “I was deeply angry about being there.  But to be fair, I’m not sure anything else would have stopped me from the path of destruction I was determined to be faithful to,” reflects Caidyn. “I am profoundly grateful for the change in trajectory the Ranch was able to provide me with.” 

Thanks to support from Kellee and The Buckeye Ranch, Caidyn was able to graduate high school, pictured above. But her path could have looked very different. Right now, nearly 1 in 3 youth are going without treatment for their mental health conditions.  

The Buckeye Ranch continues to invest in community infrastructure to make residential treatment in Ohio more accessible, currently investing in an expansion on our Residential Treatment Services campus that supported Caidyn’s healing journey. The investment will increase our campus’ capacity to 96 Residential Treatment Services beds, offering 4 crisis stabilizations beds, 72 Residential Treatment Program rooms, and 20 Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility program rooms, the first of its kind in Ohio. This in-patient level of treatment accommodates youth with higher-acuity symptoms, working to treat them in the community instead of in pediatric psychiatric hospitals.  

Finding Support in Community with Help From Residential Treatment Services

When it was time for Caidyn to leave The Buckeye Ranch’s Residential Treatment Services campus in Grove City, mental health support did not stop there. The Buckeye Ranch offers Community-Based Mental Health services to continue to support youth in their homes and communities.  

Residential Treatment Services clinicians, like Kellee, are specifically trained to provide counseling services for the youth and the entire family through our Intensive Family Support Program, helping youth who transition from Residential Treatment Services in Ohio back home to be set up for success. 

Since her time in Residential Treatment Services nearly seven years ago, Caidyn has continued to receive support through our Intensive Family Support Program and her clinician, Kellee. Throughout her time in treatment through her late teens and early twenties, she’s faced the challenges of a global pandemic, challenging and unpredictable family dynamics, the death of her best friend, and an abusive relationship. It has been incredibly challenging for Caidyn. 

“It was a lot to navigate, frankly, too much. Thankfully, my Buckeye Ranch clinician, Kellee, helped me get started at Columbus State and build community there,” reflects Caidyn. “This connected me to opportunities which have provided meaning for what I’ve been through. Without this support and opportunity to build up others, I’d be lost.”

Beyond ensuring immediate family support, the clinicians work with youth to build outside support systems in the community. At The Buckeye Ranch, we know that developing these community supports is key to long-term stability and healing.  

Kellee helped Caidyn build connections when she began taking classes at Columbus State Community College so that she was part of a community during her challenges in her late teens and early twenties.  

She was able to actively participate in Scholar Network, which is a student support network for folks with lived experience in the foster care system. This connected Caidyn to advocacy opportunities which have provided meaning for what she’s been through.  “Without the opportunity to build up others, I’d be lost. I’ve seen how people can fall through the cracks, and I feel it is my duty to do everything I can to prevent this,” shares Caidyn. “It took me a long time to learn this, but I now understand that if I advocate that everyone deserves love, forgiveness, and support … then I do, too.  Without the ongoing support, I don’t know if I would comprehend this yet.” 

Just the Beginning 

In May 2024, Caidyn graduated from Columbus State Community College magna cum laude! Today, she is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in linguistics at The Ohio State University. She made the Dean’s List in her first semester and has become incredibly involved in Columbus’s poetry community, even publishing her first poetry chapbook – “INIZIARE” – in February!  

Iniziare is the Italian infinitive meaning “to begin”. Below, you’ll find an excerpt from one of the poems in the Chapbook – ‘How to Turn Anger into Hope’. 

“Now that I have a desire to continue my story, I know this is just the beginning, and I’m excited to see where this world can take me,” reflects Caidyn.

We know Caidyn’s impact in our community is only just getting started, and we cannot wait to see how her path to healing helps to heal others. 

To learn more about Community-Based Mental Health Services offered at The Buckeye Ranch, click here. If you’re interested in supporting The Buckeye Ranch’s Residential Treatment Services campus expansion to support critical programs like our Qualified Residential Treatment Program that changed Caidyn’s life, please email The Buckeye Ranch’s Development team at development@buckeyeranch.org or call 614-729-9673. 

Excerpt from Iniziare – ‘How to Turn Anger into Hope’ written by Caidyn

To begin, gather ingredients. Place on counter, take inventory to assess if recipe can be completed. Proceed without certainty.  Lean into it. Chop onions til you’re tired of sobbing. Cut off rot and add to stock pot. Throw in something still green.  Reserve seeds. Season with home.   

Cut another onion just for an excuse. Add anger solids. Boil off the bitter. Simmer while you sit on the kitchen floor and consider what is being done.  Cradle face, let elbows rest on knees, stir occasionally, breathe deeply.   

Freeze scraps, keep thick skins for next time. Sub out the perfect for the present. Love it anyhow. Triple original portions of home spice and try again. Hurt your own feelings when it does taste like yellow hand painted kitchen. When it does taste like songs auntie sings.   

Add what was always missing. Try. Taste. Make sure it’s not poisonous. Concede it is safe and available. There it is, right there on your stovetop. Look at you go, concocting home with guesswork, the empathy of accountability, taste buds with memories and dreams.   

I bet you wanna cut another onion you dirty little…beautiful human. You deserve this.  Pleasure. Sustenance. Adjustment. Everyone does. Simple don’t mean easy. Measure with your heart and never count. Give every jar away. Feel satiated. Plant the seeds.  Finish by continuing.