Two Westlake women are doing their part to help area families that struggle with parenting issues. Abby Ryan is the president and Andrea Sparks is the vice president of the board of the Relief Nursery of Central Texas.

Relief Nursery provides therapeutic child care, parent coaching, therapy and other needed services to families with children from infancy to five years of age experiencing domestic violence, substance abuse, extreme poverty and other crisis situations. The organization is a replica of a successful 35-year-old agency in Oregon. The Austin group, which was founded in 2007, is different from many other child abuse targeted organizations in that it works to prevent abuse and neglect before they start by treating the root causes of the problems.

Sparks was part of a small group of child advocates that brought the Relief Nursery model to Austin. She became aware of the organizations through her work with CASA and as an attorney who represented abused and neglected children. Her volunteer work with Relief Nursery is her passion.

“I believe in the mission,” she said. “I’ve seen it work. I’ve seen these kids transformed.”

Often times parents who are becoming frustrated with parenting call Child Protective Services, but CPS has no services to offer them, Sparks said.

“Our main service is therapeutic day care, which allows us to really help little ones deal with the drama they’ve been through and helps them regulate their own behavior,” she said. “It shows them how to better direct their own behavior.”

Ryan became involved in the Relief Nursery in 2009 through a colleague at the Attorney General’s Office. She and Sparks have seen many friends and other Westlake families volunteer time over the years.

“Families really want to help; they want to prevent the child abuse we hear about all the time on the news,” Sparks said. “They may not have the time to join CASA or foster a child, but they have time to volunteer with us. It is a great opportunity to really help.”

Relief Nursery will move into a new home on Justin Lane that will open on April 17, with a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled that day. A fundraising open house is scheduled for April 19, and a crawfish boil is planned at the Zilker Clubhouse on April 29.

To find out more about how you can volunteer with Relief Nursery or to purchase tickets for events, contact Sparks at andreagalsparks@gmail.com.
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