Organizations
St. Louis Crisis Nursery provides emergency intervention, respite care, and support to families in crisis to help prevent child abuse and neglect. Last year, the agency served nearly 3,000 families, of which 98% did not have a substantiated report of abuse/neglect after receiving services. The agency started the Latino Outreach Program 6 years ago in response to the growing needs of the local Latinx community and to ensure equitable access to services. 577 people were served in the program in 2018.
South City Church, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, began in 2007 and is located in the Shaw neighborhood in south St. Louis city. The church runs Refugio, a Latinx community ministry, which provides a mid-week Bible study to worship, prayer, and service activities.
Partnership
The two organizations have been collaborating for 5 years to provide holistic services to Latino families in crisis using each agency’s strengths. Participating families receive services to address their crisis situation and hope, growth, and a path toward healing including case management, parenting skills, and therapeutic support from Saint Louis Crisis Nursery, as well as pastoral care, Biblical teaching, and spiritual life consultation from South City Church. While the organizations have anecdotal stories pointing to the success of this partnership, they do not have any formal evidence/data. The Brown Sisters Foundation issued a challenge grant to attract new and increased donations to help develop evaluation tools to better understand the impact of their joint services. They will track increased well-being in 3 spheres, as well as understanding of mental and spiritual health.