Vulnerable families in La Pine and south Deschutes County will soon have additional resources available to them. MountainStar Family Relief Nursery celebrated the grand opening of its newest location Monday.
“Our board of directors and the La Pine community and our staff have been working to try to figure out a way that we can make a building like this a reality,” MountainStar Executive Director Kara Tachikawa said.
The non-profit organization’s mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect through community support. It began service in La Pine back in 2016 with just one individual outreach worker.
“We work specifically with families who have children ages zero to five. And these families have a variety of stressful things happening in their lives that make raising children even more difficult than it can be anyway,” Tachikawa said.
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For parents like Iris in Bend, MountainStar services have been invaluable.
“I don’t think I could feel more accepted by a group of people in the community ever,” Iris said. “They help prepare my children for the bigger picture of life, really, not just school, but everything.”
