LIVONIA, MICH. – Ryleigh (Strong) Kryska earned a Bachelor of Social Work at Madonna in 2022, followed by a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan. Now she puts her passion for mental health care into practice at a growing local mental health clinic.
Kryska also earned certificates in community leadership and addiction studies at Madonna. Taking advantage of these additional courses of study helped prepare Kryska for a meaningful career in social work. “The certificate in community leadership was my first experience in macro-level care and the opportunities that pathway opened for not only me, but also the people I would be serving,” she said.
Kryska especially enjoyed the program development class taught by adjunct professor Camille Romain. “She has an MBA and an MSW, which was helpful for the content of the class and brought a more advanced level of knowledge,” she explained.
During her education, Kryska had several field placements aimed at supporting individuals with anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions. She says her experiences collaborating with therapists and social workers to create workshops that educated and provided emotional support to clients were transformative for her.
“The hands-on experience of creating tailored interventions and witnessing the positive impact on participants' lives solidified my passion for mental health,” she explained.
The client engagement and program development skills she honed at those placements led her to a position at Mala Child & Family Institute, where she now works as chief of operations, a role that combines direct client support and community outreach.
Kryska is proud that during her time at Mala, the institute has expanded to multiple locations across metro Detroit and grown from roughly 5 to more than 30 therapists of different disciplines. It also has added an occupational therapist and medication management provided by a psychiatrist and psychiatric nurse practitioner. Her focus, said Kryska, is “to advance mental health care for our communities.”
To further that goal, Kryska plans to launch a nonprofit to provide funding for minority populations that do not have access to mental health care due to financial stressors and barriers. She also enjoys giving back to the community in other ways, sharing her love of cooking at Gleaners Community Food Bank’s Cooking Matters program and baking birthday cakes for kids in foster care through a nonprofit called For Goodness Cakes. She is a past member of Madonna’s Alumni Board.
