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The ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, Sept. 30, was attended by Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling, Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson, state Reps. Livvy Florena and Terrie Wood and former Mayor Richard Moccia. Mothers and children currently staying at the Families in Recovery Program also helped Linda McMahon with the official opening of the center.
“When I see these young women, some pregnant, some with small babies, and I look at these small babies, it is very important to me that we help them,” Linda McMahon said. “These are women who are struggling. They are trying hard. To give them an opportunity to do that is really special.”
The center will house Liberation’s Families in Recovery Program, the only one in Connecticut that will provide long-term, residential substance abuse treatment for pregnant women and mothers. Mothers may also bring two children age 10 and under to the program.
The center is at 4 Elmcrest Terrace, where a $500,000 grant from The Vince & Linda McMahon Family Foundation made it possible for Liberation Programs to renovate the lower level of the building into a state-of-the-art facility.
In the past 20 years, the program was operated from a limited space in Stamford. In April, Liberation Programs recognized the McMahons, the founders of the Stamford-based WWE, for their support at the Seventh Annual Spirit of Hope Award Dinner.
Families in Recovery has been endorsed as a model program by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, for helping pregnant and parenting women. They receive help in dealing with substance abuse problems, preparing for self-sufficiency, reuniting with children who have been placed in foster care, and helping mothers develop better parenting skills.
Pregnant women are also given needed support to ensure that their babies are delivered in the healthiest way possible. The program serves as many as 50 women per year.
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