fbpx Stories of Hope | Nexus Family Healing
youth and staff raising LGBTQ flags

All Are Welcome

As you drive into the Nexus-Gerard Family Healing campus, there are six flagpoles that line the lawn. Until recently, only one of these flagpoles was being used. Cameron*, a new transgender youth admitted to Nexus-Gerard, had an idea­ — what if two of these empty flagpoles had a pride flag and a transgender flag to welcome LBGTQ+ youth and visitors?
young Black girl smiling

Finding Independence

Brittany, a young Black woman suffering from extensive sexual trauma and abuse, was receiving intensive therapeutic intervention services at Nexus-Woodbourne.
Amanda Kreuter, her husband Dan and their three girls

Fostering a Place to Call Home

Amanda Kreuter was in her early 20s when she started thinking about becoming a foster parent, so when she and her husband Dan struggled with infertility, they decided to explore their Minnesota foster care and adoption resource, the MNAdopt.org website.

Foster Family

Providing A Place to Grow

Paul and Cara are Nexus-PATH foster parents. They provided informal care to two children prior to becoming foster care licensed in 2013. 
foster care

A Call to Foster

Frank* and Roxanne* are a blended family with 6 adult children between them. They live on a farm with many animals - horses, chickens, peacocks, cats, dogs, a donkey and a steer.

photo of a man managing a restaurant

Finding His Path

At the age of 13, Nate started going to parties with older kids where he was introduced to and saw all sorts of things. He was living with his schizophrenic mother and Nate felt the need to keep his activities outside of the home to himself.

giving hands

Generations of Giving

Pat and Paul Curran were “hometown sweethearts” from Hornell, New York, who married and moved to Minnesota.
Box of Donations

Paying It Forward

From the time she was 13, Bill Spotts' daughter began behaving differently and more dangerously. Smoking. Drinking, Drugs. Cutting herself. Suicidal ideation. And more.

young boy smiling

Learning to Laugh Again

Richie* was born with loving parents, bright eyes, and a weak heart. After enduring his first heart surgery at six days old, Richie spent most of his first year in the hospital. As he grew, he endured bullying at school, and then, in an incredibly painful blow, when Richie was little, his home burned to the ground and he lost everything. Even his beloved family pets.

Photo of a teenage girl on in a rural setting looking at the camera

The Best Kind of Gift

Eight-year-old Nikki loved her life. Her family had just moved to a big farm in the country and her dad showered her with gifts whenever he returned from a trip. As she got older, Nikki began to wonder where her dad was going and how he could afford these gifts—until the day her home was the target of a meth raid. Suddenly, she understood.