Giving Thanks at Chrysalis

I love this time of year and the opportunity it provide to spend with loved ones and reflect on everything in my life I am thankful for. I’d like to thank you for your continued trust and support. I feel extremely blessed to be the Executive Director of Chrysalis this past year. I have long admired Chrysalis for its intimate nurturing feel and for its amazing adventure, and experiential offerings. In so many ways this has always been my dream job and continues to be just that.

Living in Montana has been a wonderful experience for me and my family; it has allowed us to get back to the basics and bonded us even closer together. I am grateful for the views of the big sky out of my bedroom window, having all four seasons, our recent harvest, and even our chickens! The environment alone has had a very simplifying impact on our life and has helped me gain a deeper understanding of why Chrysalis is so successful in helping our students. The environment here evokes gratitude simply by looking out the window!

I continue to be deeply grateful for the amazing service and adventure trips we are involved in here at Chrysalis. We recently returned from the trip of a lifetime to Ecuador. It was an incredible experience to recreate, explore, and serve side by side ten of our girls and their families. We were able to clean, paint and spend time with beautiful children at a local elementary school. We also rafted rivers, rode horses, and even made chocolate fondue straight from the cocoa bean! Ecuador is an amazing country and the trip truly expanded the horizons of our students and families.

I am also very grateful for the ways in which our team has grown. We have been able to serve more and more families this year and consequently we have added more talented members to our team. Jake Sparks, our Clinical Director, has been a great addition to the program as he has been working hard to integrate our cutting edge outcomes data into the treatment team. He has also strengthened the work we are doing with families and our bolstered our transition services. We have also added an amazingly bright and experienced therapist, Emily Thelen, to our clinical team. Emily comes to us from Living Well Transitions and started earlier this month.

As you celebrate this week with family and friends, know that we think of you and are grateful for the work you do to help families. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

by Corey Hickman, Executive Director of Chrysalis School

Posted in

Corey Hickman