Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery

The mission of Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery is to end child abuse and neglect and create strong, healthy families. A trusted resource for parents to call in their time of Crisis, the Nursery is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, offering free services for families in need. Services include a 24-hour Crisis line, Crisis de-escalation services, community referrals, a home visiting program, and a residential Nursery where parents may voluntarily place their children while they address their crises. Many families who use the Nursery are experiencing trauma, maternal depression, domestic violence, homelessness, medical or mental health concerns, and isolation primarily resulting from poverty. These situations often place children at a much Greater risk of abuse and neglect. The Nursery responded to 2,031 calls through the Crisis line. The Nursery's overnight residential care provided 1,211 days/nights of care to 527 children in 391 families last year. In an effort to decrease isolation and alleviate the immediate Crisis, the Nursery provided over 1,687 referrals to connect families with agencies in the community that help to address the unique needs of each family. The Nursery's home visiting program provided 189 home visits. This program focuses on family stability through goal setting, support, family strengths, and targeted referrals. Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery primarily works with families with low incomes in hennepin county, who have the strength to call us in the midst of their crises. We consider it courageous to ask for help, not a weakness. Approximately 60% of our clients are children and 98% of parents using our services are women. Approximately 91% are people of color or those identifying as native or hispanic, and 61% of families have annual incomes of $10,000 or less. In fy22, 89% of parents placing their children at the Nursery were single parents, and 24% of families were experiencing homelessness. Of the children in our shelter, 21% were reported by their parents/guardians to have experienced victimization concerns including possible child abuse or neglect, witnessing someone being abused, or witnessing a violent crime (the largest percentage were children witnessing someone being abused). Among home visiting clients, 63% of parents experienced abuse or neglect as a child, 82% reported mental health concerns, and 79% were survivors of domestic violence. 97% of clients report that the Nursery helped to manage their Crisis and 98% of parents or guardians reported they felt their children received good care during their stay. This is in part because all our programs 1) use a two-generational approach, 2) promote protective factors which help mitigate family risks and increase health and well-being, and 3) use a trauma-informed approach; the Nursery way. Our approach is also strength-based, non-judgmental, relationship-building, and we reduce barriers to access our services.