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"Giving Into May" aims to help Toby's House Crisis Nursery

Posted at 6:23 PM, May 11, 2022
and last updated 2022-05-11 23:06:09-04

GREAT FALLS — Toby's House Crisis Nursery in Great Falls recently marked its one-year anniversary. The nursery is named in honor of October "Toby" Perez. She was two-years old when she was killed by her mother’s boyfriend in 2011. More than a decade later, the nursery created in her honor is working to help children in similar situations.

Toby’s House offers free, temporary care to children and families that are experiencing a crisis. “A crisis can be defined as anything, but sometimes life just throws you curve balls and Toby’s House is here to help you catch those curve balls and to make sure that no child is abused or neglected,” explained Susie Zeak, the director of Toby’s House.

As Toby's House continues to expand upon their services, they will be providing access to clothing needed for children,

They will be providing gender and sizes that are available on the marketplace by organizing their donations and making sure that parents have access to the clothing they need for their children.

The reason behind "Giving into May," explained director Susie Zeak: "We get so many donations from the community, that we wanted to make sure that we are giving back to the community. Our main focus is to protect children from child abuse and neglect, but then we also want to strengthen families, and we are hoping that by giving these things away, that we are building a bridge to the community so that maybe if a family is struggling, that they will see that we are giving back to the community, that we are here for the children, and that maybe if they are going through a crisis, that they will use Toby's House to protect children."

She added, "People are always concerned with children. I will say that we are seeing an increase of families that are going through a hard time, they are dealing with depression, substance abuse, violence in the home, but I think that people are more stressed over money, work, relationships."

The crisis nursery provides short-term care for children voluntarily brought there by a parent or legal guardian. There are many reasons why people utilize a crisis nursery for temporary childcare or respite, including:

  • There is not a safe place for a child to stay while resolving personal issues
  • Someone is not capable of taking care of their child as they would like
  • An important appointment but no one safe to leave a child with
  • When stress and life’s problems are becoming too much to tolerate and could result in taking it out on a child or when someone feels they are losing control
  • Medical emergencies where a care-giver needs immediate assistance with temporary childcare
  • Mental health, substance abuse crisis
  • Foster care parent respite

The services provided by Toby’s House Crisis Nursery are free and require no qualifications to use.

To learn more, volunteer, or donate, click here to visit the website. You can also call 406-770-3191‬ or email admin@tobyshousemt.org.


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