Seven newborns at Dallas’ Nexus Family Recovery Center are enjoying their first Christmas with their mothers, a moment that has become a centerpiece of the holiday season for the nonprofit.
The center, which has served families in Dallas for more than five decades, offers a unique family-centered treatment model that allows mothers to bring their children into the program.
Heather Ormand, president and CEO, said the holiday is a chance to create a warm, nurturing environment for clients and staff alike. “It’s a really special time for both our clients and our staff to help celebrate them and make this a really warm and nurturing environment for the holiday season,” she explained. “Depending on what your family traditions are, if you’re estranged from your family, there’s just a lot of extra strain and emotion that comes up with the holidays. So being able to welcome people here and make this a really loving and caring place is so, so important to us.”
Nexus is the only facility in North Texas where women can bring their children into treatment, and it is one of only seven such centers in the entire state. The program provides trauma-informed care that covers detox, aftercare, and everything in between under one roof.
The center also welcomes mothers in the third trimester of pregnancy. Ormand, who once was a mother in recovery herself, welcomed this year’s group of newborns with a personal sense of joy and understanding.
She noted that recovery often involves a lesson about love. “There’s a beautiful saying in recovery: Let others love you until you can love yourself. And so that’s really what our staff is doing because some of these moms may still feel shame or guilt or remorse over the holidays that they’ve missed or that they haven’t been actively present in their kids’ lives,” she said.
In 2022, Nexus served more than 3,300 women and 200 children, working to remove barriers that prevent mothers from focusing on recovery while staying close to their children.
The campus is transformed for the holidays with ornament-painting nights, a Christmas party for kids, food trucks, and a warm holiday meal on December 25. “We have lots of events scheduled here on campus that replicate or mimic the activities that we all go to with our families in the community,” Ormand told reporters. “On Christmas Day, we serve all of the clients a really special meal and through a generous donor-chef to the shelters. Having that communal table like so many of us do with our family, maybe this is their chosen family-their recovery community and the staff here that love them so much.”
Ormand also highlighted the emotional support her staff provides. “We want to surround them with care and hope and resilience and let them know, you are on the right path. We are here. We have got you. And this is going to be the beginning of so many more wonderful things to come,” she added.
Beyond the holiday festivities, Ormand is advocating for systemic change. On Friday, she is scheduled to testify before state health officials about a proposal to increase funding for recovery centers that house both parents and children. Currently, state reimbursement rates cover treatment only for mothers-not their children-even though nonprofits provide childcare and family services.
The proposed change, introduced by Sen. Royce West during the most recent legislative session, would allow reimbursement rates to include children in recovery programs. “All of that has been privately funded for years, and so this is really, really helpful and helps provide support for those kids that are so desperately needed,” Ormand said.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is expected to review and possibly approve the change in early 2025.
For more information or to get involved with Nexus, visit NexusRecovery.org.
Key Takeaways
- Seven newborns celebrate their first Christmas at Nexus Family Recovery Center.
- The center offers family-centered treatment, allowing mothers to bring children into care.
- Ormand is pushing for state funding that would cover children’s treatment in recovery programs.
In the midst of holiday cheer, the nonprofit continues to strengthen its mission of keeping families together while mothers recover from addiction.
