Three years ago Brendon Rauch showed up on your doorstep, a broken soul. Angry, frustrated, confused, unhappy, depressed and drinking to hide his pain. While he was likely not the best patient, he knew something had to change in this path of destruction. The team at Legacy tolerated him, pushed him, challenged him and worked very hard to crack his armor. It was only towards the end of his stay that he started to open up his mind.

He then moved on to Foundation House for the next phase of treatment. He had a very rough start there, as well. While he was physically so much stronger, he was still broken emotionally. The staff at Foundation House tried very hard to get Brendon engaged, they offered so many opportunities for therapy, camaraderie, team and collaboration. I heard the difficulty and concern from those trying to support him.

Barbara was able to break through. She was pivotal in his emotional transformation. To this day I don’t know what happened to this young man who entered high school as one of the happiest, most positive, fun loving kids in his class. Whatever broke him nearly destroyed him and devastated our entire family.

But we were fortunate. We had friends that made us aware of possibilities and programs we had no idea existed. Someone reached out to us in our despair and helped us find all of you. I shudder when I think of my fear for his life and the hopeless feelings of a mom who can no longer help her child. It is a vivid reminder that it has not always been easy and there are others suffering as well.

But, I digress.

My purpose of this note is to tell you thank you. Every day I thank you for what you did to help my son. For today, he is happy and healthy. For today he has a good support group. For today he is back in college. We have learned to be happy for today. I am forever grateful for all that you have done for Brendon and our family.

With gratitude to you and your organizations.
Thank you.

Lesli R.
Edina, MN
Parents of Foundation House Resident 2016