Richardson approves first-of-its-kind health and wellness village

— The City of Richardson has approved a first-of-its-kind health and wellness village that will be built near downtown. It will be centered around the needs of mothers and children but also offer experiences everyone can enjoy.

Dr. Courtney Gowin has a passion for helping mothers and babies. At the Nest in Addison, the chiropractor offers services for pregnancy, birth, and beyond. It's a dream that came to life 10 years ago when she found a listing for a building on Craigslist.

"The basement was for lease and I talked to the lady and she literally took a risk on me," she said.

Initially, she only had enough room to offer chiropractic care.

"Then, two years in, I was given the opportunity to take over the entire three levels and so we were able in four weeks to create a 3,000-square-foot maternal health center," Gowin said.

Services expanded to include pelvic floor physical therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, functional nutrition, and more. However, Gowin says most importantly, what this created was community.

"What's interesting is at the time I was opening this, I was going through severe postpartum depression and it was bringing the community together that took me out of that depression," she said.

She's seen the impact the Nest has had not only on herself but other moms.

"I have several friends actually who come here and it's like a social affair," said mom Libby Cook.

"When you're a new mom, you kind of have this feeling of going through survival mode and so having access to Dr. Courtney and all of her staff here and other businesses is extremely helpful," said mom Linh Hoang. "It makes you not feel so alone and going through all this by yourself."

Now, Gowin says demand has reached an all-time high. So once again, she's come up with a plan for expansion.

"We see about 1,200 people a month and 80% of them live in Richardson and so it only made sense for us to create this in Richardson," she said.

She came across some land near downtown Richardson and her gears started turning. She contacted the owner.

"It wasn't even for sale and I knocked on his door in the middle of the night and was like, 'Hey, I know you don't know me, but if you're ever interested in sitting down let me know,'" she said.

She says he loved her vision to create the Nest Wellness Village at the southeast corner of East Kaufman and South Texas.

"It was really truly designed on the community that Magnolia built in Waco and then the beauty of Flora Farms in Cabo," she said.

The project will be anchored by a 4,000-square-foot main building and surrounded by a giant green space and bungalows. Art galleries, bakeries, a community garden, open-air market, restaurants, and retail spaces are some of the proposed uses. A private backer is providing all funding.

"I think this will be a great thing for folks to walk to," said Richardson City Council's Jennifer Justice. "Although focused on motherhood, some of the things that you've talked about putting in there would be really good for all residents."

Last month, the Richardson City Council unanimously approved the plan for the mixed-use health and wellness center.

"It doesn't feel real but it also feels really, really exciting," Gowin said.

She hopes this serves as a reminder to others—no dream is too big.

"Whenever your why is bigger than the how, then you can absolutely take those steps and things fall into place," Gowin said.