Syracuse nonprofit hosts second annual spring tea to aid families in crisis

At the Century Club in Syracuse, Mothers and Children in Crisis used its second annual Spring Tea Fundraiser to push a project aimed at one of the county’s toughest service gaps, a residential substance abuse treatment center for women and their young children.

The nonprofit says that center would be the first of its kind in Onondaga County. It is raising money for a place where mothers could receive care without being separated from their children, a barrier the organization says keeps too many women from getting help.

That need fits into a broader public health crisis already pressing on Onondaga County. The Onondaga County Health Department says the county is facing a drug overdose crisis, and county health planning for 2025-2027 identifies infant and maternal health, mental health, safe and affordable housing, and substance use as major factors shaping community well-being. The county also maintains substance-use initiatives and treatment-resource directories to connect residents to care.

Mothers and Children in Crisis has said many mothers cannot get into treatment because they lack childcare. Earlier coverage of the organization noted that it supports families through court case managers for mothers struggling with addiction, a model that links treatment needs with the realities of family court, child care and housing instability. For women trying to stabilize their lives, those barriers can mean the difference between entering treatment and staying stuck outside it.

The fundraiser itself leaned on a familiar Syracuse-style community network. It included raffle and auction items from several local organizations, and Kaitlin Pearson emceed the event. The format, held at the Century Club on Saturday, April 18, 2026, gave the nonprofit a setting that was part social gathering, part appeal for sustained support.

The second-year return matters because it suggests the Spring Tea is becoming more than a one-time benefit. For Mothers and Children in Crisis, it is a way to keep attention on a problem that reaches beyond one organization: mothers in crisis, young children who need stable care, and a county still trying to build enough treatment capacity to meet the scale of the overdose emergency.