Family crisis is common, but not all families have the resources and support to handle the situations.
Parents who don’t have family members or babysitters to look after their children when a crisis arises sometimes are forced to use child protective services or foster care, which can lead to scrutiny and trauma, says Sarah Ellefson, interim executive director of STAR House, a new crisis nursery in St. Paul.
A crisis nursery is different, she said: It’s a home away from home.
“The old phrase is, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’” Ellefson said Tuesday. “But here, it’s, ‘It takes a village to support a parent.’”
Inside Ramsey County’s new crisis nursery STAR House. The nursery celebrated its 2024 opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3, in St. Paul. “We’re here to help families get through crisis or stress, and they can determine what that crisis is,” executive director Sarah Ellefson said. (Talia McWright/Pioneer Press)
STAR House is a no-cost crisis children’s shelter that prioritizes the safety and well-being of children up to age 6. For parents and guardians experiencing crisis, STAR House offers their children a safe place to stay under the supervision of trained employees and volunteers, Friday through Sunday.
“We want to be a resource for families to keep that crisis from turning into catastrophe,” said Sarah Anderson, STAR House president.
How it works
The STAR in their name stands for strength, time and resilience: “The strength it takes to ask for help, the time that we offer and hopefully that leads to resilience for the family,” Ellefson said.
What qualifies as crisis is defined by the family, she said.
No crisis is too big or small and socioeconomic status is not a factor in deciding who is eligible for receiving care. Their system operates on a first-come, first-served basis, serving five children at a time. Appointments can be requested after 8 a.m. on Thursdays by calling and leaving a voicemail at 651-356-8678 or via starhousemn.org/contact-us.
“If there are things going on, we’d much rather have them bring the kids here and have them be safe,” Ellefson said.
The nursery, located in an undisclosed (for security reasons) St. Paul neighborhood, is decorated inside with rainbow colored rugs, lamps in the shape of rocket ships and stuffed animals. Ellefson said she designed the house with comfort in mind.
“Sometimes in the service industry it can be that, ‘Hey it’s good enough,’” Ellefson said. “We wanted it to be excellent and we want to keep that up.”
As soon as kids enter the home they’re reassured by staff that the reason they’re there is because their families love them and want them to be well cared for. Ellefson said she doesn’t want kids to feel as if they’re being taken away from their families.
“Every subject that I teach in orientation is laced with, ‘We’re doing this for the dignity and respect of the families,’” Ellefson said.
The house is somewhat child led, Ellefson said. Kids can hang out on the couch and watch movies or have dance parties, and if a kid needs to cry, that’s OK because the house can stop and support them while they cry.
“So far everyone’s been really excited to be here, literally running in the door,” Ellefson said.
Plenty of need
During their first referred-clients-only weekend of Nov. 1, the house was at capacity, which Anderson said reflects the need in Ramsey County.
According to a 2020 study by the Wilder Foundation, Ramsey County has 19% of Minnesota’s homeless population. Four out of every 10 people experiencing homelessness in the state are children or youth under the age of 24, according to the foundation’s 2023 study.
“It’s a huge number and a heartbreaking number,” Anderson said.
Homelessness is just one kind of crisis STAR House can help to address. Others can be related to mental health, domestic violence and more.
The nursery partners with organizations to provide resources to parents and guardians as needed. On Sundays each family is also given bags of food to take with them.
“We want to be a resource for families to keep that crisis from turning into catastrophe, strengthen the family and reduce the short- and long-term trauma on everyone involved,” Anderson said.
Ramsey County emergency communications community coordinator Natalie Simonet works closely with domestic violence cases. Simonet said that with the high volume of crisis calls her department receives, parents are often seeking an overnight shelter for their children.
“I’m so happy to see this resource available,” Simonet said. “Working in 911, we unfortunately see the need for a safe space like this at all hours of the day.”
Personal experience
Having worked at the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery and with other child care services, Ellefson has experience in the field. Opening STAR House, however, has been a dream since early adulthood.
Raised in St. Paul by a single mother who experienced poverty, Ellefson said that as a kid she got into a lot of trouble. At one point, she and her sister were put into foster care. Because of her childhood, she said she’s always cared deeply for children.
“I do think STAR House is really unique in a lot of ways,” Ellefson said. “We try really hard to be culturally responsive and trauma informed.”
Ellefson didn’t have the option of a crisis nursery when she was young, something she said she believes could have helped any of the kids she grew up with.
“We want it to be a place of the community,” Ellefson said.
As the need is large, Ellefson said she hopes to expand in the future, increase capacity and be able to offer families more days to stay. For now, she said, it’s one day at a time.
“We are a type of child care but our mission is family support through their children,” Ellefson said.
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