Pinwheel Place, the sole crisis nursery in New Jersey, plays a crucial role in our community. A crisis nursery, you might wonder, is a place that steps in when families are overwhelmed or facing challenging circumstances, The families we support are diverse, but they all share a common need for our help.
Here are our two basic programs:
Free Emergency Childcare and Respite Care:
We offer free emergency childcare and respite care to families, serving as a vital support mechanism. This enables parents to attend appointments, prioritize their mental and physical health, or navigate various circumstances without compromising their child’s well-being. Our childcare support is also structured to prevent parents from losing a day or often days of work. By providing this service, we help parents maintain their income and economic stability, contributing to the financial well-being of the family and lessening their stressors. A parent who used our childcare services shared these words with us “I truly teared up !!! Only because I felt so blessed to have come across a little piece of paper that brought somebody like you and the people that you work with into my life and that allowed me to pursue moving forward and not being able to be so depressed. Thank you literally from the bottom of my heart” and another stated simply “I truly don’t know what I would have done without you guys. I am so, so grateful. I would have lost my job if it hadn’t been for you”.
Examples of the types of help are:
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Emergency care of a child when a parent is hospitalized
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Respite care (for a parent needing a natural break)
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Child care (for job interviews, court appointments, cancer treatments etc.)
Basic Needs and Welcome Basket Distribution Program:
We address a fundamental need by providing diapers to families and delivering them throughout Monmouth County, which also addresses the issue of transportation needs of our families. This seemingly simple intervention has profound implications, most importantly lessening the stress of a caregiver who wants to care for their child but often doesn’t have the funds to do so. It also ensures that children have access to childcare facilities. Lack of diapers can lead to a child being denied entry, potentially causing parents to miss work and risking employment consequences. By offering diapers, we contribute to both childcare access and economic stability as well as lessen their daily stress. I would like to share with you a testimonial from one of the families who have benefited from this service provided by Pinwheel Place:
“Being a single parent is not easy especially while trying to build yourself financially, mentally and physically. I couldn’t do it without my amazing resources like Pinwheel Place which help me get through motherhood every month. I am so thankful for the Pinwheel diaper pantry.
They have helped me provide diapers for my son during our hard times. I can’t thank everyone enough for all the donations and all the work that gets put into everything to make this all happen. Pinwheel helps so many families stay safe, healthy, and hopeful. Thank you so much for caring for me and my son”
By supporting parents of young children and reducing their stressors we hope to reduce childhood traumas and create the great childhoods we want all children to experience.
Pinwheel Place was founded by Lynn Hawkins and her daughter Quadhera Whitney. Lynn Hawkins, grew up in NJ but then began to volunteer at Casa de Esperanza de Los Ninos in Houston, Texas. What she saw there horrified her, inspired her, and then eventually changed her life. Children rescued from horrific scenes of child abuse were provided a home there and a team of loving individuals who had dedicated their lives to social service nurtured them tenderly.
Smiles replaced the fear on the children’s faces gradually, Lynn wanted to make this her life. She returned home to New Jersey and started volunteering as a childcare worker at a group home in Jersey City. There she met the most important person in her life, the one-year-old curly-haired baby, the one who would give a new meaning to her dream, her adopted daughter Quady. Little did she know that this little baby would grow up to have a similar dream, to open a home to provide a safe haven for children and families at risk in New Jersey.
Twenty-something years later, Quady graduated from Seton Hall and made her mother a promise, that she would work on her mother’s dream and together they would build the home. She kept her promise. They traveled back to Houston to understand how the community care system worked and started planning a home here in New Jersey. Today, the mother-daughter duo, armed with expertise and knowledge, need your help to form of community that cares about children and their futures.
Since opening in our new location, we have had children every week and have provided countless hours of child care. Since the start of our diaper program, we have given out over three hundred thousand diapers and most recently helped a mom who was about to have twins and had nothing get all the supplies she needed.
We always need volunteers, specifically for outreach, fundraising, and childcare. Also, on July 3rd, we are hosting a “Giving Day” for our nonprofit. We are embracing the idea of INDEPENDENCE DAY this year and reminding our community that with all the donations made Pinwheel Place helps families gain independence from worry, inconsistent child care, financial hardships, diaper scarcity, food insecurity and so much more helping them towards a brighter future for their family. Check out our social media on Facebook and Instagram under Pinwheel Place to participate.
PO Box 257
Red Bank, NJ 07701
(732)542-1026
