African American Achievers Award Winner Dixie Hedrington-Miller Gets Huge Boost For Art Program From Local Donor and NBA Veteran

MARGATE, Fla. – Kenny Chatman along with retired NBA star Keyon Dooling recently visited the Friends and Stars program in Lauderhill to inspire the young disabled artists and make a donation of $2000 dollars to help complete the project that was slated for installation at Art Serve in Fort Lauderdale. Keyon Dooling is a native of Fort Lauderdale and grew up playing at the local parks and has strong ties to the community and is dedicated to supporting the youth of South Florida. Friends and Stars is an 501C nonprofit and provides a creative outlet for special needs children and adults in Broward County and the program survives primarily on private donations of cash and supplies.

Friends and Stars founder Dixie Hedrington-Miller is a professional artist who discovered there were limited creative outlets for people with disabilities, when looking for activities for her son who is deaf. Motivated by her desire to create change and opportunity for an underserved community she founded Friends & Stars, a nonprofit dedicated to the well-being of South Florida’s special needs children and adults through creative arts programs. Dixie also works with museums and public spaces to display her students’ work. Through her efforts, participants gain confidence and pride, and many have gone on to pursue a career in the arts have developed skills and perfected their crafts. Hedrington-Miller’s talent and passion for teaching is evident from her dedication to the ever-growing program.

Mr. Chatman became aware of the Friends and Stars program when Dixie was selected along with Jaret L. Davis, Gilbert Lancelot Raiford, Ph.D., and Ricky Wiggins to be recipients of the prestigious African American Achievers Award 2016 to be held on Wednesday, April 20, at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. JM Family Enterprises and its automobile distributorships Southeast Toyota and JM Lexus sponsor the event where a group of community leaders from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties select the four winners from a pool of nominees. Among the judges were former achievers. Past honorees include retired Boca Raton police Officer Wayne Barton, longtime Delray Beach community leaders Vera Farrington, Alfred “Zack” Straghn and Perry Stokes. The late Jim Moran, automotive magnate, established the award 24 years ago to celebrate African Americans who serve their neighbors and communities in innovative and inspiring ways. Mr. Moran knew that their good works were valuable to the people they helped – but beyond that, he knew that their spirit of service was vital to our national character.

Kenny Chatman, the founder of Reflections Treatment Center, encourages his staff and others in the community to give of their time and resources to support programs like Friends and Stars. Mr. Chatman’s love of art and music has led him to integrate these healing methods into his treatment programs at Reflections Treatment Center where creativity and self-discovery is always encouraged.

“I am deeply committed to identifying and assisting community programs such as Friends and Stars that are helping to meet the needs of young people that are struggling with real life needs in Broward and Palm Beach counties,” said Mr. Chatman. “Dixie and the staff at Friends and Stars provide a creative outlet that helps these folks express themselves in a positive, productive way. I hope that in some small way my support of the program and these young people helps to further their mission to create the beautiful art we saw here. It was amazing the things that were created from just trash and recycling. I encourage everyone to donate what they can to this incredible program.”

Reflections Treatment Center is an outpatient facility founded by Kenny Chatman that provides clients with real life skills to address co-occurring disorders and embrace recovery as a way of life. The facility’s expert and dedicated staff believes in a Twelve Step integrated recovery program and works with clients to help them understand, identify and practice the twelve steps and their underlying principles to help them stay committed to sobriety and assimilate back into society.

The facility’s disciplined environment and teaching methods help clients effectively achieve self-fulfillment, gainful employment and social participation. Services include expressive therapy, anger management, stress management, psychoeducation, work placement programs, pre-natal addiction treatment, HIV services and more.

“We believe that recovery is a journey, not a destination,” said Kenny Chatman. “Our goal is to provide all of the tools, resources and support that our clients and their families need to achieve permanent recovery one day at a time.”

Reflections Treatment Center is located at 5100 Coconut Creek Parkway Margate, Florida. For more information about the drug and alcohol treatment facility, visit www.reflectionstreatmentcenter.net or call (844) 444-9605.

About Reflections Treatment Center

Based in Margate, Florida, Reflections Treatment Center is an outpatient facility dedicated to the physical, mental and spiritual recovery of those suffering from substance abuse and the diseases of alcoholism and addiction. Clients learn the real ­life skills that address co-­occurring disorders and support recovery as a way of life. The facility’s staff believes in permanent recovery - one day at a time - and fosters a compassionate and disciplined environment that combines known medical models with innovative, dignified teaching methods leading to self­-fulfillment, gainful employment and social participation. For more information, visit www.reflectionstreatmentcenter.net.