YSS Residential Addiction Treatment Program Rebranded to Ember Recovery

Effective immediately, YSS has rebranded its long-standing and highly successful residential addiction treatment program as “Ember Recovery.”

For more than 40 years, addiction recovery has been an integral part of YSS. More than 5,000 youth have come through YSS’s doors seeking help and hope—including Andrew Allen, who now serves as YSS President & CEO.

Although the program, staff, and mission remain the same, the new brand will help the organization reach even more families and prepare for expanded services when the new Ember Recovery Campus is completed.

“Ember represents a small, glowing fragment of fire that—when nurtured and cared for—can be revived,” Allen said. “Ember reminds families and youth that there is always hope—that there’s enough fire in their hearts to overcome life’s challenges.”

Ember is an experiential recovery treatment program for teenagers with substance use disorder. Unlike other treatment centers, Ember is set in traditional homes to create an environment that is inviting and comfortable.

The program is gender-responsive, trauma-informed, and family-oriented with the goal to address not only the immediate needs of the youth, but also the needs as they transition back to their home and community.

Currently, Ember offers two locations in Ames: Youth Recovery House for boys and Seven-12 for girls. In 2024, the program will move to the new Ember Recovery Campus when construction is complete.

Located on 50 acres of timber and prairie, Ember Recover Campus will offer expanded facilities and incorporate nature into treatment. The majority of the center’s 70 beds will be used for the Ember Recovery program, with the remaining space reserved for crisis stabilization and emergency shelter for youth.

“With increased mental health needs, trauma inflicted on youth from the pandemic, and so many teens turning to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate—our treatment services are needed now more than ever,” Allen said. “Treatment works, and recovery is possible. There is hope. And that hope is Ember.”

Ember will operate under the parent organization YSS and continue to coordinate with other YSS services—such as YSS’s outpatient mental health therapy—to provide a comprehensive continuum of care for the youth’s needs during and after the program.

Learn more about the Ember program at its new website: www.emberrecovery.org