Empowering Recovery and Well-Being For All

Harnessing science, love and the wisdom of lived experience, the Hazelden Betty Ford

Foundation is a force of healing and hope for families and communities affected by

substance use and mental health conditions. We are the nation’s leading nonprofit

addiction treatment provider, empowering recovery and well-being for all since 1949.

Ten-year-old Miaveya and her mother, Reyna, are proud of their close relationship. “Our faces light up when we see each other,” she says. 

But it wasn’t always this way. 

For eight years, Reyna grappled with substance use disorder. “During this time, I tried to hide my struggle and was productive in my education, successful in my career and my family life… until I wasn’t,” Reyna recalls. “Soon, it became a life-or-death situation for me. I was desperate to find help.” 

Reyna tried many paths for recovery, from inpatient treatment to community support groups, without success. Finally she was referred to Hazelden Betty Ford, which offered something she had never considered. 

“They recommended Miaveya attend the national Children’s Program,” she says. “The idea of bringing kids in as part of recovery—that wasn’t part of any other program.” 

Her daughter’s participation in the Hazelden Betty Ford Children’s Program was a turning point for Reyna. “Miaveya became the key to my sobriety— and our family’s recovery,” she says.

“Miaveya became the key to my sobriety and our family’s recovery.”

— Reyna

As she looks forward to marking three years of sobriety, Reyna has become a “huge advocate for this model,” she says. “Addiction is a disease that affects the whole family. It’s OK to let our kids in to the conversation. They can be our guiding light.” 

Nuturing Children’s Healing

“When I was younger, I had no idea what was happening to my mom,” says Miaveya, age 10, who participated in the Hazelden Betty Ford national Children’s Program in 2019. “She slept a lot. I just thought she was really sick.” 

With locations across the country, and one in Greenwood Village, Colorado, the Children’s Program has helped thousands of families and kids like Miaveya since it was started in 1983. Through age-appropriate activities geared to children ages 7 through 12, the program teaches kids what it means to be addicted and how substance use disorder affects families. Children talk openly about their experiences in a safe, supportive environment and are encouraged to express their fears, feelings and concerns. 

“I knew for the first time I wasn’t the only one.”

— Miaveya

“The counselors made it fun while we were learning to understand what people with addiction are going through,” Miaveya remembers. “I knew for the first time I wasn’t the only one.” 

“Afterward, I felt like I could talk to my mom about what I was feeling inside in a much better way.” 

The Children’s Program is offered several times each month in person—and virtually since 2020. Thanks to the generosity of supporters, there is no cost for families to participate. 

Miaveya hopes that more children like her will have a chance to join the program and learn that “things can eventually be OK.”