Atzhiry Bocanegra-Flores remembers visiting the Children’s Wellness Center in Del Valle when she was 12 years old.
At the time, the clinic operated out of aging portable buildings — a modest setting that could make an uncertain first impression. But what Bocanegra-Flores remembers most is not the building. It’s how she felt inside it.
“As a patient, I loved coming here,” she said. “I felt safe, I felt cared for, I felt listened to. My mom loves coming here—to this day, she still brings my little brother. It’s definitely a place where we felt taken care of and felt that connection with the provider.”
A decade later, Bocanegra-Flores, now 22, has returned to the same clinic — this time as a medical assistant helping care for families like her own.
And the clinic itself has entered a new chapter.
In August 2026, the Children’s Wellness Center (CWC), operated by The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing in partnership with Del Valle Independent School District, opened the doors to a new, purpose-built facility. Made possible through a generous anonymous donation, the building provides an expanded, modern space for a mission that has been rooted in the Del Valle community for 30 years.
Growing Alongside Del Valle
The Children’s Wellness Center began with a simple request for help.
Dr. Stephanie Morgan, director of practice innovation, director of the wellness clinics and professor of clinical nursing, said the center traces its roots to Susan Franchetti, an area nurse who recognized a need for greater access to healthcare among children in the rural Del Valle community and reached out to the School of Nursing.
“Susan asked whether we could help, and the School of Nursing stepped up,” said Morgan, PhD, RN, FNP-BC. “That commitment to serving Del Valle families has remained at the heart of the clinic ever since.”
Over the next three decades, both the community’s needs and the clinic’s ability to meet them grew.
Today, the CWC serves patients from birth through age 21, providing primary and preventive care, immunizations, mental health services and social support. Families can also access resources beyond the exam room, including a food pantry, baby formula, clothing, benefits application assistance and a workspace with free Wi-Fi and printing services.
In 2025, the clinic provided more than 4,700 primary care visits, including 646 mental health visits, and administered 3,707 vaccines. The CWC was also honored with a Certificate of Recognition from Austin Public Health, recognizing its significant contribution to community vaccination efforts.
For longtime Del Valle resident Anthony Rainey, the importance of having those services close to home became clear when his 17-year-old son, Karie, needed a dental check-up.
“The clinic provides outreach for kids who are underserved,” Rainey said. “There’s a lack of coverage in the area, and they provide a really good service. There’s a lot of preventive work they do that provides an opportunity for those who come. It means a lot knowing that they’re there.”
“Slowly but surely, we’ve been adding more services,” said Ana Loera, BSN, Primary Care Nurse Supervisor at the clinic.
That growth has allowed the CWC to meet more of the needs that families bring through its doors.
Learning Through Service
As the CWC’s services have grown, so has its role as a place for education and hands-on learning.
Nursing students gain clinical experience working alongside faculty and providers, while students from other disciplines, including nutritional sciences, have opportunities to engage with the community and participate in research.
“We serve the community while also giving students the opportunity to train and learn alongside us,” Morgan said. “They gain meaningful exposure to community-based healthcare and a deeper understanding of the challenges many families face.”
Those educational opportunities also extend to Del Valle students. Through its partnership with DVISD, the clinic works with students enrolled in the district’s four-year health science program, creating a pathway for young people to gain experience in healthcare before graduating from high school.
For Bocanegra-Flores, the partnership between the clinic and DVISD helped turn her experience as a patient into a pathway toward a career in healthcare.
After coming to the CWC as a patient, she participated in the health science program and gained the educational foundation to become a medical assistant. Today, she is building a career in the same place where she once received care.
“I’ve always wanted to be in the healthcare field,” Bocanegra-Flores said. “I want to keep on with the program and eventually become a nurse with hands-on experience.”
A New Home for the Mission
After three decades of expanding its services, educational opportunities and community reach, the CWC now has a space designed to support the full scope of that work.
For decades, the CWC delivered care from separate portable buildings. The new facility brings its healthcare, educational and community services together in a building designed specifically for the clinic’s needs.
The facility includes 10 exam rooms, a conference room, dedicated storage for groceries and other community resources and a private nursing room for new mothers.
Loera said the new facility will make a significant difference in the patient experience while giving staff, faculty and students a space better suited to their work.
For Morgan, the expansion is also a reflection of the many people and organizations that have sustained the clinic over the years.
“It takes a lot of people and a lot of partnerships to make it work,” she said.
For a clinic that spent decades delivering care from older, separate buildings, the new facility represents more than a physical upgrade. It gives the CWC a space that reflects how much its mission has grown since 1996 — and room to continue that growth.
A Partnership for the Future
That growth has been made possible by a longstanding partnership between the School of Nursing and DVISD — one that brings together healthcare, education and community service in a shared commitment to Del Valle families.
“Since opening in 1996, the nurse-led Children’s Wellness Center has embodied the School of Nursing’s mission of bringing together education, clinical care and community service in meaningful ways,” said School of Nursing Dean Kavita Radhakrishnan, PhD, MSEE, RN, FAAN, FAHA. “The partnership with DVISD reaffirms the Center’s commitment to the health and well-being of children and families in the Del Valle community.”
DVISD Superintendent Dr. Matthew Gutierrez said the new center will be a boon to new generations of students and their families.
“This center is an investment in the health and future of our students,” he said. “Through our partnership with UT Austin School of Nursing, we’re bringing vital resources directly to our community and removing barriers that can stand in the way of student success.”
Thirty years after the CWC first began serving Del Valle, the new building marks how far the clinic has come while creating space for what comes next.
