New Crisis Nursery Offers Support to Families in Need
Sarah Ellefson, the Executive Director of STAR House, the only home based residential crisis nursery in Ramsey County, has been working to make her dream become reality for over two decades.
“Pen to paper has probably been about five years, but I first wrote the marketing plan in 2000,” she said.
Ellefson, who said she grew up in St. Paul as the child of a single parent who struggled, recognized the need for a service like STAR House based on her personal experience.
“I had a lot of family drama going generations back,” she said.
Ellefson said she put her past experience into her passion and left her corporate job to go back to school and began working at other children’s residential care facilities to help shape her vision. That long-standing vision came true in November when STAR House opened its doors.
Offering crisis nursery services for children from 0-5 years old, they provide a free, safe space for families in need.
“A crisis nursery is a place that families can bring their children when they’re going through hard times. It can be the stress, or it could be things like domestic violence or being unhoused,” said Ellefsom. “ So they can come stay for a limited time and the parents can go do what they need to do.”
The facility, which has 12 paid round-the-clock staff, can serve five children at any given time. They provide clothing, food and bedding, in addition to 24-hour care for the kids staying with them.
“The kids really, they come with the clothes on their back and any prescriptions that they need,” Ellefson said.
Families have to call to make an appointment, which are first come, first served. Families have to go through an intake process and children can stay a maximum of 48 hours.
“There’s no cost to use it,” Ellefson said. “Families define what their crisis is. We figure if someone is asking for help, they need help.”
“There are some criteria that we make sure that they fit,” she added.
Those criteria include whether the children are ill and their level of mobility.
“We can’t take, um, injectable medications for children other than EpiPens,” Ellefson said.
She said they try to be as accommodating as possible to ensure families can get the help they need. And that openness shows.
Between their soft opening November 1 through December 10, they have already provided 29 “tuck-ins” (which they define as one overnight stay per child served) to 11 children. Currently, they offer care Friday through Sunday.
Board President Sarah Anderson said that, until very recently, they were an all volunteer organization. They started their hiring process in earnest this summer in preparation of opening this fall.
While they did receive state funding to get the center off the ground, as a nonprofit, they are reliant on donations from the community and their partners to offer their services, including a major grant from Ikea.
“Ikea has been a big help for us, too. Over half the furniture they donated,” Anderson said. “They pulled up their truck and grabbed the stuff and hired Taskrabbits to put it all together.”
She said they also donated bedding, dishes and silverware for the house.
All of that creates a feeling of home for the children staying at STAR House. Which is important, because they want to create a safe, welcoming space for the families who need their service.
“We are a place where kids can be kids while the grownups do the hard things,” said Anderson.
Learn more:
To learn more about STAR House, or to donate to their Amazon or Walmart wish lists, visit linktr.ee/starhousemn
