Help Russell Family Keep Their Daughter's Hope Alive

Dear Friend,

I am writing to ask for your help. Our daughter has struggled with health problems for the last three years. She has been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which is a hormonal imbalance. This syndrome comes with an increased risk of diabetes, mental health problems, and other health issues that have greatly impacted her life. As a result, she has struggled with self image problems and suicidal ideation over these last three years.

It has been heartbreaking to watch our smart, successful, sweet, vivacious, creative daughter fall apart before our eyes. Over the past three years, we lovingly and thoughtfully supported her, taking her to treatment programs, driving her hundreds of miles and spending long hours with healthcare professionals working to find new angles to bring relief. Each consultation with a doctor or specialist would bring us hope for a new start, but her condition continued to deteriorate.

This last fall, as the holidays approached, our daughter said she was worried because she was not feeling well. Her hormone levels were back up and she tested positive for pre-diabetes. She lost hope and said she could not keep doing this. We became afraid for her life as she moved down a path of self-destruction.

In January 2025, we enrolled her in a residential treatment program because we could not keep her safe 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The treatment center contacted us multiple times to tell us our daughter would probably need a locked facility. We started researching other options. A locked facility looked to us like it would destroy our daughter‘s last hopes of a healthy life and future.

At 17 years old, she still thrives when hiking, camping, kayaking, rafting, and swimming. The glow comes back into her. She has told us many times that she wishes she could just live out in nature. When we found descriptions of the therapeutic programs that were held in the wilderness with hiking, camping and exploring oneself with the support of a personal therapist and a wilderness guide, amongst six to nine other peers, for three months, we knew we had found the program that had the best chance of success for our daughter!

The hurdle was to find the $75,000 that the program would cost, and quickly before she was taken to a locked facility (think prison with an Astroturf yard and razor wire). We decided we would use an equity loan on our property that was intended to make home improvements to, instead, pay for the program. Through our research, we found a highly recommended program that offered a scholarship program and also informed us about a funding group that would provide a percentage of the fees if we qualified. We worked diligently to fill out the volumes of required paperwork, to fight the insurance company that had rescinded their pre-approval of the current treatment program, and to get our child the best medical care for a transfer to the wilderness program that identified as a perfect fit.

We received $22,000 in scholarships and grants. We transferred our daughter to a therapeutic wilderness program on February 10, 2025. We were scared but sure this would be the best path. Right away, the support she and our family received improved significantly. Our daughter was not immediately “happy” but she stopped telling us she wanted “to be dead.” After almost three months, we have witnessed a drastic change.

We recently returned from spending three days on a wilderness trail with her. We experienced a really positive visit with our daughter. It was fun and sad and encouraging and funny. My daughter and husband offered an improv that made me laugh so hard my sides ached. Our guide played the ukulele and he and our daughter would just start singing popular songs. Our daughter made a fantastic birthday dinner for her dad including a no-bake strawberry cheesecake. We all slept together under a tarp. The sleeping bags were so warm! We hiked to a high point yesterday and shared our grateful letters.

We have seen that our daughter is now doing very well. She is doing better at controlling her impulses. She is still sad and kind of "off" in some of her ideas but we are proud of how she has moved away from her negative behavior.

We understand that she is at the beginning of a journey in which she has a ways to go. She needs to practice these skills and this way of living until they are the first thing she goes to in any situation.

We are excited because our child, with whom we enjoyed a visit in the wilderness, is the young woman we know, full of life, joy, and wonder. She shared with us that she is making plans for a healthy future and apologized for the difficult times. She has hope and tells us we made the right decision, and asks if she can stay until her therapy group moves higher up into the mountains for the summer. She has also asked to go to school at an outdoor therapy based school when she finishes this program.

The scholarships and the grants have been used up. The equity loan on our house will only pay for a few more weeks and the insurance is still refusing to pay.

We need to keep our daughter going on this positive journey, not bring her back to the place where she fell apart before she is ready.

We need financial help. We are writing letters and applying to programs and are asking for donations to help her succeed.

Would you be willing to help our daughter? We are hoping to raise $200,000 to ensure she can finish high school in the best program for her health and well-being. Every dollar that you give will go straight to support her program.

We are so grateful for our community of support.

The Russell Family