Keeping Kids Safe: Stories from 40 Years — A Conversation with Mark Niemeyer

Elizabeth and Mark Niemeyer

Molly Brown, Mark Niemeyer, and Karen Schuessel

As the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery marks 40 years of Keeping Kids Safe and Building Strong Families, we’re taking time to reflect on the people and moments that have shaped our work. 

In this interview series, we’re sitting down with board members, staff, volunteers, and supporters to hear, in their own words, what the Nursery has meant to them, why this work matters, and what gives them hope for the future. 

Today, we’re honored to share a conversation with Mark Niemeyer, current Board President, who first connected with the Nursery as a volunteer. Mark’s story reflects the care, commitment, and compassion at the heart of our mission. 

 ********** 

What first drew you and your wife Elizabeth to the Crisis Nursery? 

We always knew that we wanted to do something to help kids. When we were both in graduate school at SLU, volunteering at night at the Nursery location at Deaconess Hospital was a way to do that, and it also fit with our busy school and work schedules at the time. 

As someone who began as a volunteer, what has stayed with you over the years? 

The strongest memory I have from volunteering was from a night we were at the Deaconess location, and it was time to put the kids to bed. It was chaos, good chaos, throughout the whole floor as the staff and volunteers were getting kids into pajamas, changing diapers, getting kids into bed, and trying to calm them down so they could fall asleep in a new environment. 

There were two brothers staying at the Nursery that night, and I will never forget the two of them staring out the window of the boys’ bedroom, the older brother with his arm around his little brother. That image of him nonverbally telling his little brother that it was okay and everything would be all right has stayed with me all these years. It is a perfect image of what the Nursery does for these kids. In a world of chaos, we let these kids know that they are safe. 

What does the Crisis Nursery mean to you personally today? 

The Nursery is a part of our family. Having gotten to know the organization and its staff better over the past decade, Elizabeth and I are completely bought into the Nursery and its mission. It is a regular topic of conversation at the dinner table in our house. 

Why do you believe this work mattered when it began—and why it still matters now? 

The underlying need has always been there and continues to grow. We may not be the largest organization, and we certainly cannot help everyone, but the families we are able to help—we meet them where they are in life and help them find a way through the challenges they face. 

That personal touch and relationship building is what has always set the Nursery apart and why it is still needed today, in a culture where societal trust is sorely lacking. 

As we mark 40 years, what gives you hope for the future of the Crisis Nursery? 

In the early days, from the stories I have heard from prior leaders and board members, it was all about survival, just making sure the Nursery made it through that day and on to the next to help families in need. 

We have been blessed by many capable board members and generous donors throughout the last 40 years, so that we can now operate with a much longer time horizon and take actions to ensure the Nursery is not only around tomorrow, but for the next 40 years. 

The incredible work done by the Nursery staff and the great outcomes they achieve for families every day is the best testament to the need for this organization in the community. As long as that continues, and we are actively taking steps through strategic planning and budgeting to ensure that it does—I firmly believe the Nursery will thrive in the decades to come. 

What do you hope this organization continues to be for children and families in the years ahead? 

My biggest hope for the Nursery is that we can harness the resources to expand our reach in the community, especially in areas of St. Louis where the need is immense. In doing so, we will be able to serve more families and expand our positive impact across the region, while staying true to the operating model we have built over the past 40 years, meeting families one-on-one and following up after their immediate need to help them thrive as best we can. 

********** 

For 40 years, the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery has been a safe place for children and families in crisis, offering care, stability, and hope when it’s needed most. Stories like Mark's remind us that while the faces and moments may change, our purpose remains the same. 

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey, past, present, and future. Together, we’re carrying this work forward for the next generation of children and families.