Crisis Nursery Wentzville

When Saint Louis Crisis Nursery opened its doors 25 years ago, the independent nonprofit emergency shelter for children had one location, a staff of 12 and could only care for seven children at a time. Today, the organization supports five nursery locations and four community outreach centers. Hundreds of volunteers log more than 28,000 hours and assist more than 6,500 families and 7,000 children each year — many of them in Wentzville.

Opened just 2.5 years ago, Crisis Nursery Wentzville was expected to take in an average of 60 kids per month.

“The interesting thing about the location, is that our projected numbers have doubled and even tripled what we originally projected,” said Bonnie Define, director of community relations for Saint Louis Crisis Nursery. “We are serving 120-140 children, with the highest number at 170 in one month. That is two to three times higher than we thought.”

Define said the numbers include children who stayed at the center for 24 hours to three days to a week or longer. 

“We never discharge a child unless they have a safe place to go,” she said.

The Junior League of Saint Louis (JLSL) founded Saint Louis Crisis Nursery in 1986 after a research committee determined that networking, education and a crisis nursery were the three most prevalent needs in preventing child abuse. 

With grants from United Way and JLSL, the former Deaconess Hospital was secured as the site for the first crisis nursery.  

In August 2008, the fifth crisis nursery was opened in Wentzville. The location is supported by state funds, as well as the Community and Children’s Resource Board of St. Charles County, TR Hughes and Sisters of St. Mary Health Care (SSM)-. The location services children and families from St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren Counties.

Define said some confusion exists about crisis nursery — namely whom they serve. While it is true that 75 percent of the children Crisis Nursery serves are newborns to 5 years old, the organization does serve kids up to 12 years.

“The majority are little ones. They are the most vulnerable to child abuse and neglect,” she said.

In addition to direct care of children, Crisis Nursery gives ongoing support and follow-up care to families and serves as children and family advocates within the social service system, Define said. Families may bring their children to any one of the nursery sites for reasons including: overwhelming parental stress; parental or sibling illness or death; lack of utilities, food or shelter; domestic violence; and other emergency situations which may jeopardize the safety and well-being of the child and necessitate temporary parent-child separation. The average stay of a child in one of the nurseries is three days.  

Children staying in one of the facilities will receive 24-hour care, a medical exam, any necessary medication, a developmental assessment, therapeutic activities and art activities.

It’s the therapeutic activities that set Crisis Nursery apart from a typical dare care situation, Define said.

“Another misunderstanding is that it’s like a day care. It’s very much a therapeutic environment. While the children are in the nursery, we use that time to help them process what’s going on in their lives. Often these kiddos come from very stressful, chaotic situations where they have observed some very inappropriate things. They work with a full-time, certified art and play therapist who helps them process what’s going on.”

Crisis Nursery can help a single mom trying to transition from a life of abuse to a safe and independent life for her and her children. The nursery’s Family Empowerment Program provides that help with assistance in securing employment, a place to live and other resources. 

The programs offered by Crisis Nursery can also help a parent facing a health care crisis who has no other resources to help them with their children.

“One single mom (at the Wentzville location) found herself needing to go through chemotherapy,” Define said. “She had no one in the area to help her with her children.”

 There are also very young, single mothers who find themselves completely overwhelmed with parenting, who reach out to Crisis Nursery.

“The Wentzville location is also there for the young single moms who have no support. It’s a situation where the idea of parenting is hard. They feel alone and scared. The mother may call in the middle of the night. The clients get to an emotionally scary place. They’re feeling desperate. Our staff is trained to do an assessment over the phone to determine if the kids are in immediate danger.”

In this case, the center can send a cab to bring the mom and the children into the facility. In one case, Define said, the children were kept at the nursery, while the mother was taken to the hospital for assistance.

“Our goal at the nursery is to build trust with these parents and support them, to provide resources and build rapport and keep these families together,” Define said. “We want to create long term outcomes where they don’t need the nursery anymore.”

Mary Kay Kreider, Crisis Nursery program coordinator and social worker, helped open Crisis Nursery Wentzville. A former professor and department chair at St. Louis Community College-Meramec, Kreider started the Human Services and Addiction Studies programs there. She also worked as a social worker in New York City.

 Kreider said Crisis Nursery makes a difference in the lives of the families it serves.

“I was a social worker in New York City. I had to remove children from their homes and put them in shelters so big they were like gymnasiums full of cots. And the staff was so exhausted you could just see that they weren’t ready for another child,” Kreider said. “For me, it is a wonderful experience to see such a positive response to parents and community need before abuse occurs instead of having to remove them when the child is hurt or has been neglected.”

Hundreds of volunteers work in Wentzville with Kreider, Define said, from the man who faithfully maintains the landscaping around the center to the individuals who clean, cook and do laundry inside. 

 The Wentzville Crisis Nursery accepts new and gently used clothing, as well as nursery items such as cribs, strollers and high chairs. New toys are accepted for the center’s “Birthday Closet.” And the center always needs diapers, wipes, formula and kid friendly snacks.

Define said the Crisis Nursery has an extremely strong support base and raises $6 for every $1 it receives in grants. Many of the members who sit on the organization’s board of directors come from area corporations who give big to Crisis Nursery.

“One of the things Crisis Nursery was founded on was not being completely reliant on the state,” she said. “We have a very strong board of directors with many of its members coming from major corporations in the area. Half of our budget comes from individual donors.”

Kreider said of all of the successes she has witnessed at Crisis Nursery, the best came in through the front door in the form of a young college student.

“The girl came in and asked if she could see the new nursery in Wentzville. She said she was leaving for college and wanted to see it before she left,” Kreider said.

Apparently the young woman had stayed with her three siblings at Crisis Nursery St. Charles when she was a child. “She said the place helped her to understand that people out there really did care.”

Crisis Nursery Wentzville is located at 700 Medical Drive in Wentzville.

For more information on Crisis Nursery Wentzville call the 24-Hour Helpline at 636-887-3070; Mary Kay Kreider, MSW, program coordinator, 636-887-3071; or MaryPat Smith,  volunteer coordinator of St. Charles County at 636-887-3072; or visit www.crisisnurserykids.com.