SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Community Health Committee, has now greenlit a feasibility study bringing a crisis nursery one step closer to becoming a reality.
A crisis nursery would provide temporary services to any family dealing with a crisis who are unable to take care of their children.
Marta Pelaez, the CEO and President of Family Violence Prevention Services, along with Dr. Kathy Fletcher, has been advocating for a crisis nursery for years.
"Every case of domestic violence, that is committed in front of children, where children are involved could be that child, that trauma that is spared because there was a crisis nursery," Pelaez said.
The closest crisis nursery to San Antonio is in El Paso, though the vision both Pelaez and Fletcher share is similar to the OKCity Crisis Nursery in Oklahoma.
Last week, David Botello Jr. was arrested, after allegedly admitting to San Antonio Police that he squeezed a one month old out of frustration. The child had multiple broken bones. He's facing charges of injury to a child.
Fletcher and Pelaez believe that situation could be avoided by a crisis nursery.
"It essentially is a community response rather than a protective services response to help a parent who is in crisis, who is overwhelmed, who cannot take care of their child the way they would like to at that time," Fletcher said.
Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia is hoping to have the results of the feasibility study by June.
"Maybe we could take some pointers from who's out there doing the work that maybe we can partner with," she said. "And we hope to have all of that information ready for the budget session this year."
Pelaez and Fletcher hope a crisis nursery in San Antonio is up and running by next year.
"We should've had a crisis nursery years ago, given the circumstances of our community," Pelaez said.