Volunteers of America Texas Resource Center – Mothers and Infants
The Dallas Mavericks and the Mavs Foundation teamed up with Chime to renovate and upgrade a resource center for the MINT Program at Volunteers of America Texas (VOA Texas). The Mothers and Infants Nurturing Together (MINT) Program is a place where incarcerated mothers may come prior to giving birth to their babies at the VOA Texas facility. After giving birth, the mothers can bond with their babies before either returning to the correctional facility, or, in some cases, being released with their children. To better support the mothers, the newly renovated space provides resources to learn about their pregnancy journey, continue their education, and create memory books for their children, in addition to a comfortable living area for them to nurture and spend time with their baby.
To celebrate this project, Dallas Mavericks player Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Mavs Foundation President Katie Edwards, Dallas Wings VP of Social Responsibility LaDondra Wilson, and VOA National CEO Mike King marked the momentous occasion with a dedication ceremony.
“Mavs donated this beautiful room right here to help [the mothers] reinforce who they are and give them confidence to grow, to be great mothers and to become better people in society,” said Prosper. “It’s important for us to give back to our community with the platform we have. I feel a responsibility to help others. God has blessed us with this amazing opportunity to play basketball at the highest level and to be in the position we are in, it’s a responsibility for us to come back and help those who don’t have as much, who need our help. It’s great to play basketball, but there’s more to life than just basketball. How can you help others? How can you inspire the next generation? How can you make a difference? And that’s why I feel like this is so important.”