Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery is the cause behind the tournament

The Rosauers Open golf tournament turns 22 this year, and it’s not alone. The charity it has supported since inception, Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery, turns 22 as well. The crisis nursery was founded months before the first Rosauers Open, and the PGA-sanctioned event has supported it ever since. “We’re very grateful for what they do,” said Amy Swanson, executive director of the crisis nursery. This year, golf tournament organizers expect to be give $115,000 to the crisis nursery, which is just slightly less than the $135,000 total purse that golfers will take home from the tournament. Rosauers Open organizers donated the same amount to the crisis nursery last year, Swanson said. Through the years, the tournament has raised more than $1.7 million for the nonprofit. Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery provides safe quarters for children under the age of 7 whose parents are in some sort of distress. Children can stay at the center, located at 1004 E. Eighth on the lower South Hill, for up to 72 hours per visit. The center is designed to be a pro-active way to prevent child abuse. “We help parents recognize signs of stress and get the support they need before it’s too late,” Swanson says. The organization is named after Vanessa Kay Behan, a 2-year-old girl who died from injuries sustained during child-abuse attacks. After Vanessa Behan’s death in 1987, a group of Spokane businesspeople came together to raise money to form the crisis nursery. Twenty-two years later, the nursery remains funded almost exclusively by community donations. Swanson said 97 percent of the organization’s annual operating budget is funded by the golf tournament, its annual promise breakfast, other fund-raising activities and private donations. The Rosauers Open is the crisis nursery’s second-largest revenue source. Still, Swanson said, the organization needs to raise more money each year. The center has 20 beds, but it doesn’t have enough money to hire enough staff to handle full occupancy. The center hopes to increase its donations within three years to level that it can operate at full capacity.