Mission, Vision, Values
About Us
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MISSION
MountainStar Family Relief Nursery's mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect through community support and therapeutic services that help vulnerable children and families succeed.
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VISION
We envision communities across Central Oregon where child abuse and neglect are reduced and where parents are supported in nurturing their children’s emotional, physical, and intellectual development in a safe environment.
“I’ve never seen a group of people rally behind children the way these people do. All without judgement of the parent or the situation, they just want to help. It’s a genuine, honest sincere love that they have for what they are doing and it comes out in everything they do.” - MountainStar Parent
VALUES
CARING: Welcoming, trauma‐informed, nonjudgmental, family‐focused, compassionate, honest, and fun.
COLLABORATIVE: Engaged with clients, supporters, program partners, and communities.
EXCELLENCE: Committed to quality programs, current research, continuous learning, and robust evaluation.
INCLUSIVE: Seek out and value diverse perspectives; understand and address systemic barriers equitably.
Strategic Goals
Community Engagement — Enhance community awareness of child abuse and neglect and increase engagement in this vital work.
Fundraising & Finance — Build upon our strong base of funding to support planned growth and long‐term success of tri‐county services.
Operations, Facilities, & Human Resources — Ensure strong business practices, human resources, and organizational infrastructure to support the staff and services we provide.
Programs — Increase effective, high-quality, and inclusive services that reduce the risk of child abuse/neglect and promote resiliency in children and their families.
HISTORY
MountainStar was formed in 2001 in response to the community's need for comprehensive services for distressed families with very young children. This need was identified in the 10-year Deschutes County Community Plan, and MountainStar began providing services to children and families in Bend in April 2001. We now serve children and families in the tri-county Central Oregon area of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook Counties. Our Relief Nursery services include the Therapeutic Early Childhood Program (TECP) with four age-specific Therapeutic Classrooms, and the Safety Net Program, which provides crisis intervention and ongoing services to high-risk families who are not enrolled in the TECP. To further meet the needs of client families in crisis, over the years we have added regular child assessments, home visitations, transportation services, emergency food boxes, essential supplies, services for limited English-speaking families, and mental health services. Since our inception, we have increased the number of children served annually from 34 in the first year (2001), to over 300 children and their families throughout Central Oregon. Thanks to a generous donation from a local couple who are new to the area, MountainStar established Relief Nursery operations in Redmond to better serve children and families throughout the region. MountainStar continues to expand operations in North Deschutes County by offering preschool services in Redmond which will allow us to serve over 55 children and their families annually. In 2022, we received government, private, and grant funding to establish a permanent site in La Pine to better serve South Deschutes County. The permanent location opened in Early 2024.