Yolo Crisis Nursery: A day to strengthen local families
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time for our community to come together around a simple fact: when families have support, children are safer. In Yolo County, that support often begins at the Yolo Crisis Nursery, where families facing their most difficult moments can find care, stability, and a path forward.
On May 7, the region will come together for Big Day of Giving, a 24-hour online fundraising event that supports local nonprofits. For the Nursery, this year’s message is clear: Give Today and Be the Reason a Child Sleeps Safe Tonight.
For one local mother, that support changed everything.
When Marjani first connected with the Yolo Crisis Nursery eight years ago, she was a young mother trying to create a safe life for her child. Today, she is raising four children, including an eleven-year-old with autism, a six-year-old, and four-year-old twins. Her journey has not been easy, but it is a powerful example of what is possible when support shows up at the right time.
Marjani grew up surrounded by instability and spent much of her childhood in foster care. As a young adult, she was determined to build a different future. She pursued her education and became a mother at 21, committed to giving her child the stability she never had.
Years later, she found herself in an abusive relationship that escalated into severe violence. Eventually, she made the difficult decision to leave, entering a local domestic violence shelter with her children. She was pregnant with twins, had no income or support, and was trying to hold her family together while navigating trauma, fear, and uncertainty.
That was when she was introduced to the Yolo Crisis Nursery.
She reached out with almost nothing, no job, no car, and no place to call home beyond the shelter. To her amazement the case manager that she had worked with years before, greeted her with open arms. She knew she was in the right place as she remembered the Nursery was not just services, but support that met her where she was without judgement.
Her twins were enrolled in the Nursery’s infant day care program, providing safe, reliable care while she attended appointments, searched for work, and began rebuilding her life. Through Family Life Skills and wraparound services, she worked with staff who helped her create a plan forward. Therapy referrals supported her healing to receive the right diagnosis, and care packages that provided essential items like diapers, clothing, and cribs.
Without that support, her children would have gone without basic needs. Without childcare, she would not have been able to take the steps needed to rebuild.
This is what prevention looks like.
It means being the reason a child eats tonight.
Being the reason a child has a safe place to sleep.
Being the reason a family gets through a difficult moment.
Being the reason a parent finds support when they feel alone.
With the help of the Nursery, Marjani began to rebuild her life, step by step. Today, she is thriving as a single mother. She lives with her family, cares for her grandmother, and is completing certification for In-Home Supportive Services (which will enable her to receive payment for the loving care she provides to her grandmother). This spring, she will begin classes at Sacramento State, working toward her bachelor’s degree.
She is also raising her children in a different environment, one rooted in safety, encouragement, and hope.
“They swooped in and saved me,” she shared. “When everything felt overwhelming, they were a bright light.”
Stories like Marjani’s are why early support matters. When families do not have access to resources, children are more likely to enter the foster care system, an outcome that is costly both emotionally and financially. Prevention programs like the Yolo Crisis Nursery help reduce that risk by providing support before situations escalate, keeping children safe and families together.
On May 7, Big Day of Giving offers an opportunity for the Yolo County community to be part of that prevention.
This year, thanks to six generous donors, donations to the Yolo Crisis Nursery will be matched up to $45,000, doubling the impact of every gift. That means more families can access child care, emergency support, basic needs, and the guidance needed to move forward.
A single gift can provide a safe night of care. It can help a child receive warm meals. It can give a parent the time and support needed to find stability. Most importantly, it can change the course of a family’s future.
This Big Day of Giving, the message is simple: . Please give. Be the reason a child sleeps safe tonight.
To learn more or make a donation, visit the Yolo Crisis Nursery’s Big Day of Giving page by scanning the qr code above or visit yolocrisisnursery.org. Every gift made between now and May 7 helps us reach our goal and strengthens our ability to support children and families when it matters most.
— Heather Sleuter is the executive director of the Yolo Crisis Nursery