This is what coming home feels like. When you have spent a lifetime forging a path that has been your true north since you came out of the womb. When you have battled your own demons and faced vulnerability with courage to find the deeper meaning in your pain. When you have given every penny that had your name on it to a cause so much bigger than yourself. When you have donated five years of your life and over ten thousand hours of your blood, sweat, and tears. When you have sacrificed so much of yourself to build a home for other people’s children. When you have been thrown obstacle after obstacle, but nevertheless you persisted. Because changing the world requires the stubbornest of hearts. When the person who holds the key to certifying your lifelong dream utters the words that you are officially licensed. When hours later you interview your first potential youth in a juvenile detention center in the middle of nowhere, Colorado. When she tells you her favorite song is ‘Scars to Your Beautiful’ because she believes that “even in pain, there is beauty.” When this youth is funny, and smart, and thoughtful, and tortured, and rebellious, and perfect. When you tell her about your program, and she tells you it’s a fantasy world. And you tell her it’s your fantasy world, and she can be a part of it, and it’s real. As of June 28, 2017, Resilience Rising is open for business. This is what coming home feels like. Welcome home, fellow warriors.   

~ Gillian Wood, MPH, Founding Director