Did you know Sacramento County has a crisis nursery? It is a free program that is helping families at their lowest moment.
Rayne McKenzi admits becoming a first-time mom was tough.
"Very unexpectedly I found myself expecting," said Rayne. "There never is the best time, but I was going to college. I was a struggling student. Her dad had just been laid off from work. His mother had just passed, and I had little to no family support."
It was a dark time. Rayne suffered from post-partum depression
"Fortunately a nurse reached out to me and said you need to call the crisis nursery right away," recalled Rayne. "She said don't even call just show up on the doorstep, and I did."
The Sacramento Children's Home operates the county's only Crisis Nurseries which allow caregivers to bring children, newborn through age five, for emergency, free child care or overnight care during stressful or difficult times. This early intervention program is designed so that at-risk children have a safe place to stay whether it be for a few hours or up to 30 days during a family crisis.
"There are activities for the kids. We let the kids even pick which room they want to be in sometimes," said program manager Ebony White Douglas. "We really want the kids to feel comfortable while their family is going through really difficult times."
Parents are connected to community resources, case management, and crisis intervention services to empower them to handle future crisis situations on their own.
"We know it's working. We know it's helping these families out in their time of need, and we know that it's helping make our community a better place to live," said the director of philanthropy. "So much so that some of our legislative partners that we work with have said this is a model that we feel could be replicated elsewhere...elsewhere in the state of California and elsewhere throughout the country."