May 8, 2025
On Thursday, the Yolo Crisis Nursery held a grand opening for its new $9.5 million home in Davis.
It was a seven year journey from project conception to opening the doors. Previously, the nursery operated out of a 1,400 square-foot home with executive director Heather Sleuter’s office being a closet.
The new over 9,000 square-foot facility located on one acre of land, which broke ground in October of 2023, features indoor play areas, an outdoor playground, a kitchen, an infant-care room, overnight rooms, visitation rooms, offices for staff and more.
“We are now licensed for 12 kids in overnight and 30 during the day,” said Sleuter. “With this new home, we have the capacity to serve more children than we ever imagined. We will be adding key programs to the nursery.”
Some of those programs include addressing the county’s unhoused population, supervised visitations, fatherhood programs, family engagement nights and expanding in-home parenting programs.
Since 2001, Yolo Crisis Nursery has served over 10,000 children. Helping this many kids takes more than one person, however, as made clear by each speaker during the grand opening’s program.
“It takes a village” was repeated by each speaker who took to the podium. Support from the Yolo County Board of Supervisors past and present, cities, Yolo Crisis Nursery Board of Directors, campaign committee, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, clients, staff, donors, architects, contractors and more all came together to make this project a reality.
The nursery’s new home’s official name is “Pabe Wile”, which is Patwin for “New Beginnings.”
“Our people have a longstanding tradition of giving and sharing the benefits of our success by investing in local communities, especially those living in our ancestral homelands,” remarked Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation tribal chairman Anthony Roberts. “That’s what makes this work near and dear to our hearts. This isn’t just about supporting a program though. It’s about investing in children and their parents and in the future of our community, and world.”
When it comes to funding for the nursery’s new home, $2.5 million was donated by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. Other donations and funding came from personal donations, the city of Davis, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, state of California, Sutter Health, Blue Bus LLC, Our Little Light Foundation, as well as numerous other foundations, businesses and charities across the county.
An estimated 1 in 7 children experience child abuse and or neglect in the United States, according to The Centers for Disease Control. In 2023, Yolo County reported one of the highest rates of poverty in California, at 19.5%.In 2024, the Yolo Crisis Nursery provided 5,526 care packages to help alleviate these stressors for families and 2,855 safe stays for children in crisis, an increase of 25% from the previous year.
The new nursery building includes critical upgrades to security and accessibility with nearby access to public transportation, grocery stores, a public park and a pharmacy.
A nursery client, whose identity was asked to be kept confidential, shared her story with the audience. After her abusive husband landed in jail, she and her two children were struggling without money or support.
The nursery provided her with care packages, baby wipes, diapers, resources, safety and support to get back on her feet.
Today, she is studying to become a nurse and has two more children thanks to the nursery’s help.
The program concluded with a ribbon cutting ceremony and butterfly release. Nursery officials asked that the location of the nursery be kept private and that no photos of the exterior or interior be taken to protect the children and parents who rely on the facility.
“Our new home is a secure place for children to heal, grow and thrive,” said Sleuter. “Early intervention and prevention of child abuse and toxic stress is an investment in our community’s shared future, and we are so grateful for the generosity and outpouring of support from all who contributed. Thanks to you, brighter tomorrows begin today.”
To learn more about Yolo Crisis Nursery, visit https://yolocrisisnursery.org/.