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Crisis Nursery needs your help

To the editor:
With state and local budget cuts many non-profits have begun to rely even more on our communities to help achieve all of the valuable missions. Some of us have lent a hand of financial support through our businesses and on an individual basis. Some of us would like to reach out to help - but just didnít know how we could. Here is an extremely valuable way for you to get involved. Volunteer at the Childrenís Home Society & Family Services (CHSFS) Crisis Nursery serving Chisago/Isanti County. I have volunteered for the Crisis Nursery for over 5 years. During that time we have grown. Our community has grown and our programs have grown and evolved.
In the last 18 months we have gone from three full-time and two part-time employees down to two full-time employees. We need your help to continue to provide a support system to children and families who have no where else to turn.
We need volunteers to help with outreach, office work, providing shelter homes to children in need and transporters. With budget and staff cut-backs we need your help so that we may continue to serve all of the individuals who need us the most.
My plea as a volunteer is to take a look as your schedule; can you give us a couple of days a month, a few hours a week, or even four hours a week. If you can, please call the office at (651) 674-8498. We will be glad to give you more information and help connect you with a volunteer opportunity that will be fun, rewarding, and will help to make a difference in the life of a child.
You will never understand the inner satisfaction helping children can bring until you start volunteering with this group. The work they do is amazing. Because the services are voluntary, we do not place the children for long periods of time, but the impact on them lasts a lifetime. When youíre working with the children and talking to them about their experiences a child will sometimes say, ìI had a great time, there was lots of food and everyone was so niceî...words canít express what your heart feels. At one group I spoke to, I had a teacher tell me they could tell when one particular child had been placed in a shelter home, he was positive on Mondays and it was the only time he wrote happy things in his journal.
So take a look at your schedule, children need a strong, positive safe environment, and you can be a part of making this happen. The children are looking to you for help. Please help a child?
Vicki Lesmann
Volunteer
Childrenís Home Society
Crisis Nursery
Chisago and Isanti Counties

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