A collaboration takes flight

Licensed clinical social worker Lynne Routsong-Wiechers ’93 couldn’t help but notice social media posts highlighting a sprawling new complex scheduled for construction in the Dayton suburb of Trotwood to give children a state-of-the-art facility to learn sports and life skills. She knew the Flyght Academy had been doing great work in the community and wanted to offer her help.

So she found Chris Wright ’11 on LinkedIn and sent him a message.

Wright had grown more attentive to mental health concerns in recent years and was eager to add a mental health partner at Flyght — named in recognition of his nickname from his years as a forward for the UD men’s basketball team from 2007 to 2011. He found Routsong-Wiechers to be a great fit, not just because they were both Flyers, but her vast experience in the field demonstrated how well she could respond to the most challenging of circumstances.  

Her 32 years of experience in community behavioral health and private practice includes serving as a Montgomery County assistant juvenile probation officer in West Dayton and working with children in residential treatment and foster care who’d experienced extreme neglect and abuse. In 2020, she opened Midwest Counseling Centers of Ohio south of Dayton with her husband, Mark Floro, a longtime health care executive.

She’s also the parent of two adult children, Megan and Drew, and grew familiar with the demands of competitive sports as Drew’s athletic journey led him to NCAA All-American status as a wrestler at Ashland University.

“I know how mental health can affect your ability to perform on the court, on the mat or anywhere.”

“I think the fact that Chris is taking kids who wouldn’t have had these opportunities and is working to increase their self-esteem and giving them an outlet for their skills and talent is wonderful,” Routsong-Wiechers said. “These programs help keep them engaged and moving in the right direction.”

In its initial stages, the mental health partnership will focus on relationship building with the 400 Flyght Academy student-athletes and their families. Midwest Counseling Centers of Ohio staff will offer seminars, break-out sessions and other programs on mental health during the academy’s sports and life skills programming. The goal is to make the students feel comfortable approaching the counselors for help if needed. Routsong-Wiechers and Wright communicate regularly and say their eventual goal is to have a mental health staff member consistently on site when the new facility opens, targeted for 2024.

Wright said he began focusing more on his own mental health about four years ago after the 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes devastated Trotwood and surrounding areas near Dayton. He organized a donation drive, coordinating drop-offs and pickups, but was stunned by his reaction when one woman began sifting through a clothing pile. It took him back to an 18-month period during his childhood when his family had to live in hotels, or with relatives and church members after a fire destroyed their home. The family also received food and clothing donations from their church.  

“I’d never felt anxiety like that,” Wright said. “In my mind, I was in the basement of that church again going through donated clothes. I was wondering what was happening with me — here I was at 30 years old reliving something that happened to me when I was 7.”

Wright has long felt a desire to stay connected to his community, starting from when, as a Trotwood-Madison High School standout, he chose to play for UD over larger college basketball programs. That devotion continued as he launched his Wright Way Foundation to support his work with Flyght Academy, which started with a skills camp in 2014 and hosts most of its programming at schools and other facilities.

After the tornadoes hit, the pull to do more for Greater Dayton children grew even stronger. He retired from a professional basketball career that included stops in the NBA, the NBA G-League and overseas leagues, and bought property from the United Theological Seminary that had previously been the Jewish Community Center to build a permanent home for Flyght Academy. Construction is scheduled to start this fall on a 50,000-square foot facility on 32 acres that will include a pool, football field and the academic center where he and Routsong-Wiechers envision having a mental health professional present to help students navigate challenges they might face in school, sports and life.  

“When Lynne reached out, I was excited,” Wright said. “Growing up in the community where I lived, it’s not really cool to say, ‘I’m sad,’ ‘I’m stressed,’ ‘I’m hurt.’ There’s that stigma, but having those feelings are just about being human. Anyone can experience mental distress.

“My goal is that when others read this, they’ll act in the same way,” he said.