Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery needs volunteers, supplies

Busy traffic, icy roads, impatient shoppers and financial pressures can stress families during the holidays. The Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery is also feeling the pressure as it deals with the fallout.

“We have more families calling than we have room for,” said Amy Swanson, executive director.

The nursery is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and provides free emergency child care for children to age 6. “We’re helping families all year-round,” Swanson said. “But the increased financial stresses of the holiday season can be too much for some parents.”

The nursery always needs diapers and formula, but during this time of year the demand intensifies. Larger-sized diapers and Pull-Up training pants are especially needed. “You can make a bigger diaper fit a smaller baby, but you can’t make a small diaper fit a larger child,” said Swanson.

The nursery also provides parenting classes and crisis counseling and needs volunteers. Licensed for 23, they can only handle 12 to 16 children a day due to lack of staff.

“Our biggest need for volunteers is on the weekends,” Swanson said. “Many parents can keep it together during the week, but there’s very little child-care resources during the weekend.”

She’s hoping the community will be generous, especially during the holidays. “Everything we do is about the children.”