Mary has been part of Daniel’s life since the day he was born.

She’s his grandmother, and she knows him better than anyone.

She knows his favorite video game, his favorite food. And she knows his struggles: the loss of his mother to mental illness and addiction and the weight of his own diagnoses (high functioning autism, depression, and oppositional defiant disorder).

Daniel was 3 – and his brother was a baby – when they moved in with their grandparents, Mary and Houston. Home with them was a safe and loving place.

But by the time he was 11, Daniel had started losing himself in rages. He was targeting his younger brother, and Mary was afraid she couldn’t keep both boys safe.

Daniel needed more help than his family could provide.

They found emergency behavioral care for Daniel after he attacked his brother at home – but it was just a stopgap. What he needed was an intensive program with long-term support.

That’s how Daniel came to us. Mary placed him in our group home and day treatment for children navigating two serious challenges at once – mental illness / severe emotional disorders and an underlying developmental disability.

He’s been with us a year. Mary visits him every other month – and now when she looks at him, she sees a new child.

Daniel has learned to pause. Instead of lashing out he stops and thinks before he acts, before he speaks. He can recognize when he’s wrong, and he can apologize.

Mary sees the changes in his demeanor, his mannerisms. “He’s making every effort to make a better choice,” she says.

Daniel has always been capable academically. What he lacked were the tools to manage the impulses. Now that he has them, he has confidence – and he has a dream. He wants to be a pilot.

Mary believes Daniel’s new coping skills will help him unlock the potential she’s always seen in him.

The journey isn’t over. He has at least another year in the program, but the goal is to get him back home, back into school. Back to his life and the things he loves.

For now, Mary is encouraged by each step forward – and by a teenager who is beginning to look toward the sky.