Crisis Nursery Plans Larger Building Facility Wants To Avoid Turning Children Away

The Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery took in nearly 3,000 children last year while their parents worked through a personal crisis of some kind.

Even so, 711 children were turned away because the nursery was full.

The people who run the non-profit center want to increase capacity because they know their free emergency service prevents child abuse.

They are proposing construction of a new $1.5 million nursery on adjoining lots at Ninth and Arthur. It would have sleeping space for as many as 28 children.

The 15,000-square-foot center would replace the existing 11-year-old nursery, which is housed in a remodeled home of about 2,000 square feet at Eighth and Arthur. Currently there is room for a maximum of 10 children at any one time.

“We want to be able to get these children in here and begin to help the family,” said Sue Manfred, executive director.

Manfred said Vanessa Behan is the only center of its kind in the Pacific Northwest and operates year to year on the contributions of supporters in the community.

Now, the nursery is hoping the strength of that support will extend to the building project.

The nursery already has started lining up major contributors to finance the new building. A public fund-raising campaign is expected later this year.

The idea of opening a crisis nursery stemmed from community reaction to the domestic beating death of 2-year-old Vanessa Behan in 1982. The nursery opened five years later and cared for 427 children.

In 1993, the nursery reached its capacity of about 2,600 emergency stays and has operated above capacity ever since, Manfred said.

“Every child who spends a night in the crisis nursery won’t be a headline in The Spokesman-Review in the morning,” she said.

The nursery now has a staff of 25 employees and 35 trained volunteers who provide around-the-clock care for the children while their parents sort out their problems.

Parents are often referred to other agencies and services for help, and they can take advantage of free classes on child-raising skills offered at the nursery. Earlier this year the center started a support group for single moms.

The nursery’s directors decided to purchase two lots just south of the existing property and use them for the new center so the nursery could stay at its present location.

Southeast Spokane is home to a lot of lower-income families, some of whom encounter personal and financial crises.

Manfred said it makes sense for the crisis nursery to stay close to those people, although the center takes children from throughout the region.

“We are in the neighborhood we need to be in,” Manfred said. “We think we are a good addition to the neighborhood.”

Manfred said she’s met with neighbors living close to the nursery and assured them the new center would have adequate parking and the building would be designed to complement the older residential area.

“We want to make this a very welcoming place for children and families,” she said.

A public hearing will be held at City Hall, probably later this year, on a request for a special permit for construction and a zoning variance to allow a six-foot fence around the play yard.

Northwest Architectural Co. and Goebel General Contractors have joined the project. Both companies are donating work to the project.

The new center would have three play areas for children of different ages.

Because of a peculiarity in the way the property was originally platted, the rear of the new center along Ninth Avenue is actually considered a front yard under the zoning code.

As a result, the nursery will need a variance to build a six-foot fence to block anyone from seeing the children in the outdoor play areas.

The center is careful not to reveal who is being cared for to avoid confrontations with family members.

The proposed center would have a health room, a commercial kitchen, a pantry for storing donated goods and an expanded laundry.

The existing center was fashioned from an old home and has outlived its usefulness, Manfred said.

“There will be tears shed when this house comes down.

“Our priority can’t be a building. It has to be the children.”