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Through our Artful Giving initiative, Artful Living partners with an artist each quarter to offer an exclusive art print to our readers with a portion of proceeds benefiting a nonprofit of the creative’s choice. This quarter, we’re featuring Missy Monson, an Excelsior-based artist known for her bright abstracts and dreamy seascapes. She selected the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery as the beneficiary of the proceeds from her exclusive print, “Sweet Symphony.” Here, Crisis Nursery Development and Communications Director Jennifer Harrison tells us about the growing mission of the organization, how the community can best support its efforts and more.


Photography provided by the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery

What is the mission of the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery?

The mission of the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery is to end child abuse and neglect, and to create strong, healthy families.

What kind of services does the organization provide?

As a trusted resource for families, the Crisis Nursery focuses on prevention by offering free and voluntary services for parents who face barriers such as unemployment, homelessness, medical or mental health concerns, poverty, domestic violence, or other difficult situations. We help strengthen families by connecting them to resources, caring for their children during difficult times, and setting goals that promote self-sufficiency and make the relationship between parent and child stronger.

The organization’s core services include a 24-hour crisis helpline, crisis counseling, education and connection to community resources, clinical home visiting and mental health programs, and voluntary overnight residential childcare. We invite parents to courageously share their story and trust that we will work together to make things better.

Artwork by Missy Monson

How has the pandemic affected the Crisis Nursery?

We know the parents and children who turn to the Crisis Nursery for help have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic. Many of our clients are people of color living in poverty and isolation without access to quality healthcare. Because of this, the pandemic has profoundly impacted how we work with clients and has shifted our services to keep parents, children and staff safe. Our crisis line has remained open as our home visits and in-home adult mental health programs have gone virtual. We have worked incredibly hard to develop protocols and procedures for all programming to keep safety at the forefront of our daily work.

How can the community support the Crisis Nursery?

The community can best support this critical work by making a financial contribution. There are multiple ways to give; please visit crisisnursery.org/donate to learn more.

Purchase “Sweet Symphony” by Missy Monson, with a portion of proceeds benefitting the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery.

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