I was unaware that there was such a thing as a crisis nursery until I read about it Tuesday morning in a story from News 10 in Sacramento but this is a fantastic idea and one that every community could benefit from having.

“The Sacramento Crisis Nursery offers a safe haven for children 5 years old and under whose families are facing a crisis. The nursery provides both emergency daytime care and overnight stays for up to 30 days …

Many of the clients who utilize the crisis nursery’s services do not have extended family in the region and feel isolated in their situation … “We think a parent is a hero to children when they can identify that they need support and help,” Roy Alexander [Chief Financial Officer of the Sacramento Children’s Home] said.

The crisis nursery would like to reach out to new mothers and groups that deal with postpartum depression. “We encourage mothers if they feel like they really have the blues and they’re concerned about their ability to continue to take care of their child that they’ll call us very quickly,” said Alexander.

The Sacramento Crisis Nursery can be reached at (916) 679-3600. The Regional Crisis Nurseries Hotline at (877)-KIDSPLACE will provide phone numbers for other nurseries located in the greater Sacramento area.

If you know of other crisis nurseries in your areas, please let me know and I’ll try to maintain a list of them. So far I’ve been able to find them in Minneapolis, St. Louis, Phoenix, San Francisco/Bay Area, Seattle, New York, and I’m sure there are more. What a fantastic resource for women in crisis.