The Foundations Family Center celebrated their opening in Nanuet on Friday. It will offer support, education and more.
A goal of the family-friendly place is to allow those seeking help with substance recovery to bring their kids, instead of missing services because they don't have child care.
"For our younger participants who are children of someone who is in family treatment court, they need to have an environment like this where they can come and they can play while their parents are recovering," said Patricia Osterhoudt.
She played a role in the vision for the center, is a former employee for the program and lost her son to an overdose in 2019.
"I hope the family members come in here and know that this is a good time in their life. That there is not trauma that is attached to this space," she says.
A total of $700,000 from the New York State Opioid Settlement Fund was used to create the space.
The commissioner for the state's Office of Addiction Services and Supports saw it on Friday.
"That is exactly what it's meant for," OASAS Commissioner Chinazo Cunningham told News 12. "It's so that families don't have to go through the same pain and they have in the past."
The center is part of the Foundations Recovery Community Center, which is a program under Rockland Council.
Rockland Council provides prevention and recovery services.