A Residential Shelter for Adolescent Drug Addicts

Nexus Recovery Center is a facility where addicted adolescents girls and their children come to begin their journey into a new, drug-free life.  They are provided shelter for several weeks as well as counseling, both individual and group.  They learn to live without drugs and they meet mentors who return to demonstrate that each of them can successfully survive and thrive, without drugs, in a complicated and difficult world.

So many of these young women come from cultures where out-of wedlock children are part of the norm, but the culture does not teach the educational, vocational, or personal skills necessary to provide a healthy and stimulating environment for their children.  Failure at the one thing that is supposedly thought to be the "best" experience of their lives - motherhood - frequently is one of the factors that that plays into their addiction - plus so many of their friends are in the same situation and using as well.

But motherhood is also the impetus for these young girls to lead better lives. The welfare of their children frequently is the biggest motivation to get clean – that and the fact that a judge may have offered Nexus as an alternative to prison and being separated from their children.

Dance to Live is one of the healing cogs in their road to recovery. The population changes every few months - so it is necessary to tailor our classes to those who are currently in residence.  With the children we frequently inter-mingle games with movement exercises or Yoga.  The games stress cooperation, respect for the space of others, enthusiasm, joy and pride in accomplishments.  Yoga, which requires balance and control, is frequently conducted in pairs to demonstrate that they can count on one another.

The Moms' classes are much like their children’s but demand more focus.  The movements are challenging, group exercises insist that each pairing is with a different young woman - and, yes, they dance sometimes to favorite music which is chosen by vote.  Ultimately as well as providing a safe, challenging, learning environment, we want to see smiles.  These young women have had too few opportunities to smile.

As Michelle, for whom this site is in memory, said -" I always knew I was OK when I was dancing, that things would work out after all and that tomorrow would be a brighter, new day."