Heal with a Little Help: Miniature Animals Helping Families in the Santa Fe Area | Local news

CERRILLOS – Four miniature animals – two horses, a mule and a donkey – prepare to meet young mothers and children as part of a recovery program to heal trauma and bring families together after drug addiction.

The program, called Mom and Tots, gives Santa Fe Recovery Center clients the opportunity to use horse-assisted learning that teaches social and emotional skills to parents and children.

“Horses have a way of helping us all recover,” said Elizabeth Daigle-Delfs, founder of My Little Horse Listener. The nonprofit, all-volunteer group has helped around 400 children since its inception in 2016.

The group started out as a reading program in which children read to horses in order to overcome reading difficulties.

“Then the horses showed us that they were able to do more,” said Daigle-Delfs, a master’s in rehabilitation counseling from Northeastern University in Massachusetts.

On a farm in Cerrillos, toddlers screamed in excitement at the sight of Hot Dog, Thor, Melly, and Serafina. Each is less than 4 feet tall.

The volunteer drivers demonstrated how to stroke the miniature horse’s bushy brown and white hair and set up a low bar so they could jump over it. Moms held their little ones to keep them warm in the setting sun and encouraged them to be curious and courageous.

By gaining the horse’s confidence and overcoming their own fears, it is hoped that children will once again see their mothers as protectors and take steps towards mending a critical bond.

Kaylee Higgins, 27, said she had been living with her daughter at the center for about a week, working to eliminate an addiction.

“It was cool to be able to have him with me,” she said.

The Santa Fe Recovery Center serves approximately 1,400 clients per year and offers a drug rehabilitation center, residential and outpatient treatment, extended care, recovery housing assistance, and medication-assisted treatment.

“Our women’s facility has residential beds for up to 30 women,” said Michele Williams, program manager at the Santa Fe Recovery Center. “We’re partially funded by a grant that helps postpartum pregnant women recover, and that’s why we have some of our children with us today. “

The center offers a residence where mothers and their children share a room and receive three meals a day. Mothers have group and individual therapy sessions while the children are in child care. Most residents stay between 30 and 90 days, Williams said, adding that mothers with children sometimes stay a little longer.

The center started bringing moms and children to visit with the horses in September 2019. Due to the pandemic, the program was closed, but three months ago it resumed.

According to recent tax returns from My Little Horse Listener, the 501 (c) 3 nonprofit costs around $ 30,000 per year. Most of the funding comes from private donations. Daigle-Delfs and his five collaborators do not receive any salary.

Daigle-Delfs wants to develop a new program that would take horses to children’s homes. She is fundraising to buy a trailer that can transport them.

“They are portable,” she said.


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