MountainStar Family Relief Nursery

MountainStar Family Relief Nursery is a child abuse and neglect prevention nonprofit serving vulnerable families in Central Oregon (Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties). We focus on families with babies and toddlers because the first three years of life are the most critical in terms of brain development. If that development is impeded because of a child’s traumatic experiences, it affects the child’s entire life.

The families we serve are living with an average of eighteen extreme stressors such as homelessness, poverty, parental incarceration or substance abuse, mental illness, and domestic violence. Those extreme stressors can become overwhelming, and can lead to abuse or neglect if the parent(s) don’t receive support. By providing parental support, and therapeutic services for both the children and the families, we are able to reduce the risk of child abuse — that’s our mission.

MountainStar’s prevention efforts have been proven to decrease the incidence of abuse by 70% within just six months of a family beginning our program. Through the help of donors, business partners, and community volunteers, we are able to offer crisis intervention and healing to over 450 families who come to us for help voluntarily each year.