Wright County Crisis Nursery Helping Families In Crisis | Local News

(Photo courtesy of LSS Crisis Nursery)

A local daycare supported Lutheran Social Services Crisis Nursery families during the holidays. One of the five Crisis Nurseries operates in Wright County.

(Photo courtesy of LSS Crisis Nursery)

A local daycare supported Lutheran Social Services Crisis Nursery families during the holidays. One of the five Crisis Nurseries operates in Wright County.

The Lutheran Social Service’s Crisis Nursery in Wright County helps families in need who have children up to 12 years old. These crises can include illnesses, housing problems, divorce or separation, financial strains, and other issues.

Parents can request short-term care for children, crisis support for families, and information and referrals to additional resources. Lutheran Social Services has five Crisis Nurseries in Mankato, Duluth, the Crow Wing County area, the St. Cloud area, and the Wright County area.

“We partner with licensed foster care homes, childcare homes, and childcare centers for up to 72 hours to provide care for these children,” Wright County Crisis Nursery Facilitator Alexis Rian said.

Families come to the Crisis Nursery for short-term childcare, supplies such as diapers, formula, and wipes, and help with filling out applications for programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The Crisis Nursery also has items such as clothing, bottles, baby toys, and books.

The Crisis Nursery doesn’t have a specific location yet, but they have providers licensed within Wright County in locations such as Buffalo, Monticello, St. Michael, and even some providers in the outskirts of Wright County. These providers can help and transport children from all around the county.

Licensed providers have to be licensed in Wright County at an in-home daycare, daycare center, or foster home.

“We also offer a 24/7 Crisis Hotline so that parents can reach us even at two in the morning,” LSS Program Coordinator Conni Orth said.

The Wright County Crisis Nursery is looking for volunteers to staff the phones overnight and on the weekends. The Crisis Nursery is a 24-hour service that operates 365 days a year, so they always have someone on the phone.

“Volunteers will be taken from 5 p.m. on weeknights until the following morning at 8 a.m.,” Rian said. “On the weekend, volunteers are needed Friday at 5 p.m. until Monday at 8 a.m. We also would take monetary donations. Without us raising money for the Crisis Nursery, there is no Crisis Nursery.”

According to Orth, the Crisis Nursery trains and does a background check on all of the volunteers that take calls from families. She stated that the Crisis Nursery doesn’t get a lot of calls overnight, but they do get calls at 7 a.m. from parents. This is often because their child’s daycare is closed and they need to go to work otherwise they might risk losing their job.

The Wright County Crisis Nursery closed in the fall of 2019 and reopened under Lutheran Social Service in April 2020. Rian said a lot of families think that the Wright County Crisis Nursery is still closed because of this.

Lutheran Social Services was founded in 1865. Today, it has over 2,000 employees in Minnesota and offers disaster recovery services, housing and assistance, military and veteran services, older adult services, refugee services, disability services, family services, and much more.

Sometimes the Crisis Nursery isn’t the correct fit for families who need help, so they offer referrals to other organizations such as the Four County Crisis Response Team, Milestones, Wright County Community Action, Options for Women Cornerstone in St. Michael, and other organizations.

If Crisis Nursery is the right resource for families, they can’t always promise a placement for a family’s child.

“We can’t guarantee a placement, we’re a very small program,” Orth said. “We do everything in our power to help those families through their emergency situation. If we can’t find a placement, we’ll look for something in the near future to help that family through their crisis.”

The Wright County Crisis Nursery accepts items such as formula, $10 gas cards, clothing for children up to 12 years old, diapers, stuffed animals, Uber gift cards, wipes, diaper cream, baby lotion, and blankets. Clothing can be gently used, but can’t be stained, ripped, or torn.

“Our goal of the Crisis Nursery is we’re always looking for the community’s help,” Rian said. “We’re always looking to recruit more providers, we’re always looking to create that general awareness about the Crisis Nursery. We will always take in those donations such as diapers and wipes.”

Rian continued, “Another goal of the Crisis Nursery is to find those opportunities to speak to local groups or organizations. Anytime I am able to share our service I am happy to do that so that these families know they have an advocate in their corner to support them.”

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