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On Monday, officials with Nexus Family Healing held a groundbreaking at its Nexus-Gerard site here in Austin for an important addition they hope will bring families closer together.

The new Family Center will offer a designated space for families visiting their children who are at Nexus-Gerard. The setting will be private, intimate and nurturing when parents can also meet with parent partners — parents who at one time also had children at Nexus-Gerard and who can offer support based on their own experiences.

It’s hard for anyone who doesn’t have children at Gerard to imagine how impactful that can be on the family dynamic. There may be feelings of guilt or shame associated with parents who make use of Nexus-Gerard’s services.

Not only do the parent partners help with this, but the Family Center will provide a place to have important conversations and most importantly to meet with their own children in an atmosphere that’s reassuring and private.

This warming atmosphere will help parents continue to strengthen that loving bond with their children and combat the mental stresses imparted on the child.

However, it also demonstrates another stride forward by Nexus-Gerard to continue being a community resource in a day and age where mental illness is very much on the public’s radar.

While the end goal is to once again bring children back home with their families, we can feel better that Nexus Family Healing will continue being that resource in our community that families can turn to for help to find their children back home once again.