Nexus Family Recovery Center is transforming the lives of women and moms battling substance use disorder.
Solely serving women, the nonprofit specializes in services, including SUD treatments, regardless of ability to pay. It’s one of seven Texas facilities that allows women to bring their children to treatment and one of three that welcomes women throughout pregnancy and postpartum.
Jeanine Minter almost lost hope after CPS showed up at her house at the end of 2016. The agency referred her to Nexus, but Minter couldn't maintain sobriety in outpatient treatment. Facing eviction, living in a motel and on the brink of losing custody of her children, Minter asked her outpatient counselor at Nexus for residential treatment.
“On Jan. 31, 2017, my children and I came into the Parenting and Pregnant Women with Children program with the clothes on our backs,” Minter says. “While in treatment, I was given the opportunity to focus on my recovery.”
During the day, Minter would attend group and individual counseling sessions focused on coping skills, grief management, relapse prevention and life and parenting skills. As she healed, so did her kids in the child development center. Nexus is the only recovery center statewide to provide evidence-based, trauma-informed therapy for children while their mothers receive treatment.
“My children were also learning how to manage their surroundings, emotional-regulation skills and how to identify safe people, places and things,” Minter says. “In the evenings, as a family, we were provided the tools we needed to bond in a nurturing environment."
After 63 days in the program, Nexus provided Minter with assistance in finding safe housing and continued to use all the resources Nexus provided — outpatient treatment, daycare and child therapy. After completing the outpatient program, Minter's kids, Jimmy and Jacyn, attended the child development center while Minter worked and went to school.
“Nexus put my broken pieces back together and gave my children their mom back,” Minter says. “Without Nexus Family Recovery Center, I would probably still be homeless under a bridge. I definitely would not have my children in my life, nor my family's support.”
Minter now works at Nexus as an outpatient counselor. Her children are in seventh and ninth grades and excell at school.
“How I feel about Nexus is nothing but gratitude, especially how they were able to make my mom recover,” Jimmy says.
“I love what they do and actually look up to my mom now. I love seeing how she's able to help people,” Jacyn adds.
Their story is a common one, says Nexus CEO Heather Emmanuel Ormand, adding that one in four children live in a household with a parent or caretaker with a substance use disorder.
“At Nexus, we are truly unique in that we provide residential, outpatient and medical detox services to women only,” Ormand says. “That's so important because when you're entering a recovery journey, it requires an extreme amount of honesty and vulnerability.”
Dr. Yolanda Lawson, BCBSTX executive medical director of maternal and infant health, agrees. In August 2023, BCBSTX launched the expanded Special Beginnings® Maternal and Infant Health Initiative aimed at improving health outcomes for moms and babies in Texas.
“Our maternal-gap analysis revealed the need to address substance use and substance use disorder,” Lawson says. “While I was a practicing OBGYN, Nexus was one of the few places where we could refer our patients to receive treatment where they would not separate the mom and the baby. The residential component is quite highly important.”
BCBSTX provided Nexus a $200,000 grant through the maternal and infant health initiative.
“I am very proud to work with Nexus and alongside our other partners throughout the state of Texas because we all have a mutual goal to improve maternal health outcomes for the state of Texas,” Lawson says.
Cameron Hernholm, Nexus' chief philanthropy officer, says the funding helped serve more than 3,300 women and their families in 2024, including 32 babies and 212 children at the child development center.
“It really is lifesaving work that we're doing at Nexus, not just for the women receiving treatment, but also for their children,” Hernholm says. “Having Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas support our organization just brings to light the importance of what we're doing.”
