Cook Children's Community Health Workers Connect Casa de los Sueños Residents to Resources
Fifty-five families that once struggled with homelessness now live at the Casa de los Sueños apartments, where Cook Children’s Center for Community Health helps support the health, safety and wellness of residents.
Fort Worth Housing Solutions (FWHS) operates Casa de los Sueños, an option for affordable housing in the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood. Extensive remodeling turned the property – formerly an Express Inn motel – into a 55-unit apartment complex. Each unit is fully furnished.
Casa de los Sueños opened its doors in December 2024, welcoming families with children under age 18 who had experienced homelessness. As residents moved in, the staff at the Center for Community Health and Cook Children’s Health Plan supplied each household with crockpots, cookware and a variety of items geared to prevent injury and promote health, including:
- Mops and asthma-friendly cleaning products
- Air purifiers and mattress and pillow encasements to reduce asthma triggers
- Pack ‘n plays to give infants a safe sleeping space
- Cabinet locks and tub kneelers to promote safety for infants and toddlers
- Toothbrushes, shampoo, deodorant and other hygiene items
- Toys and games to foster child development and family bonding
Lenee Bassham, MSSW director of Child Safety in the Center for Community Health, said the goal was to equip Casa de los Sueños residents with some household basics as well as education and resources setting them up to thrive.
To help meet ongoing needs, Build-a-Bridge, a program in the Center for Community Health, stocks a diaper closet and the center’s Wellness team stocks an emergency food pantry at Casa de los Sueños. Build-a-Bridge also organizes gatherings called Caregiver Alliance, which brings residents together for a meal and a facilitated conversation on various parenting topics. Child activities are provided to support social-emotional development during Caregiver Alliance sessions.
“We continue to support these families on their climb out of the situation that they were previously in,” Bassham said. “We want to surround them with the resources they need to succeed.”
FWHS President Mary-Margaret Lemons is thankful to collaborate with the Center for Community Health. The parenting classes, she said, empower residents with knowledge and confidence. And children’s activities sponsored by Build-a-Bridge have sparked joy and learning.
“Their support has been instrumental in providing resources that meet the everyday needs of families, including baby items, kitchen essentials and the establishment of both a food pantry and a diaper pantry,” Lemons said.
“During the holiday season, their thoughtful donation of Christmas gifts brought hope, happiness and a sense of belonging to families who need it most,” she said. “Their commitment to uplifting our community reflects the true spirit of partnership and compassion.”
New Beginnings
Public money and private donations funded the almost $15 million cost of transforming Casa de los Sueños from a motel into an affordable housing model. The design includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units as well as a playground and game room. An estimated 125 children and teens live there.
Located in west Fort Worth just south of Interstate 30, the complex is about a mile from a new neighborhood health center serving the Las Vegas Trail area. It’s a convenient location to find a wide array of services, including pediatric health care provided by Cook Children’s, along with adult health care, job training, a food pantry and demonstration kitchen.
FWHS case managers give guidance to their clients at Casa de los Sueños. Build-a-Bridge supplements that role by providing bus passes, for instance, or referring the food insecure to WestAid.
Program manager Breanna Anderson, LMSW leads the community efforts at Cook Children’s that aim to lessen the harmful effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs are traumas such as domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, parental incarceration, and caregivers with mental illness or addiction.
Anderson said Build-a-Bridge works to break the cycles and habits that contribute to ACEs. Changing generational behaviors or addressing mental health starts with meeting a family’s basic needs for food and shelter.
“When they're able to get all of these needs met, they've got such a firm foundation. It gives them the capacity and the space to be able to work on those longer-term, much more challenging life changes,” she said. “We're talking about big life changes to get on a different trajectory.”
Advocates point out that Casa de los Sueños offers residents much more than a roof over their heads. The ways that the Center for Community Health steps up align with priorities in six focus areas: asthma, healthy lifestyles, injury prevention, mental health, oral health and parenting and family support. Initiatives find practical solutions while respecting the residents’ dignity. One example was stocking the apartments with deodorant and other hygiene products.
“Being able to look and feel your best and go into the world with confidence is huge,” Anderson said.
One resident, Antonia Dawson, took the leadership to start a children’s arts and crafts program using supplies and snacks from the Center for Community Health.
“They provided me with the knowledge and lessons on mental health to incorporate into my arts and crafts lessons to help the kids be aware of their emotions and different feelings and how art can help to be a coping mechanism,” she said.
Tackling big challenges like homelessness requires a long-term mindset, Anderson said. It takes an ongoing commitment from agencies and providers to build relationships and trust with the people they serve. What else does she want the residents of Casa de los Sueños to know?
“Healing comes in community,” she said. “It takes a village to raise a child. We're walking alongside you on the hard days, and you don't have to do it all alone. There are good organizations and good people out here that are really wanting to support you and your family in a non-judgmental way.”
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