URBANA -- Things haven't gone exactly as planned for Rachel Ziegler.

She moved to the Mahomet area several months ago from Colorado with her fiance, who had just gotten out of the Army after combat duty in Iraq. The plan, she says, was to live with his parents for a few weeks until they found a place, as he had a lead on a job at Kraft.

The job never materialized. She couldn't find work either, and the couple's relationship crumbled under various stresses. With two children from her previous marriage, Ziegler said, the strain was too much for his parents, and after three months they asked her to move out.

With a 4-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter, Ziegler wasn't sure where to go. She ended up living in her van.

Last week, in desperation, she dropped off her son at the Crisis Nursery of Champaign County and arranged for her 14-year-old to stay with a family friend. Ziegler has been staying at Austin's Place, an emergency drop-in shelter for women, while she tries to find a more permanent home for her family.

Without Crisis Nursery, she and her son would likely be living in their car, Ziegler said.

"This would be a nightmare with my son right now. He's having fun and being very well taken care of. They've been great," she said.

The Crisis Nursery works to prevent child abuse and neglect by supporting families in crisis.

The agency is asking supporters to take a stand against child abuse by wearing blue and attending a "Wrap the Nursery" event at noon Monday at the nursery. Blue ribbons are used to raise awareness during April, national Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Participants will join together to wrap around the building as a figurative blue ribbon. Executive Director Stephanie Record will give brief remarks, and free lunch will be provided by an anonymous donor.

About 3 percent of the nursery's admissions come from homes with domestic violence, officials said. Last year it took 3,427 children into crisis care.

"Since our mission is to prevent abuse and neglect, we hope to see the children before they've ever been affected," said program director Laura Swinford, who conceived Monday's event.

Swinford used to work at another agency with children affected by abuse and neglect, "which is why I came to the nursery," she said.

"All children want to do is love their parents. It's just such a beautiful gift. To see people completely throw that away it's heartbreaking," she said. "All the families we have are asking for support and asking for help," so they "don't find themselves in a place where abuse happens. We are proud to be there as part of that safety network."

The nursery takes in other clients, too, like the dad who brought in two young boys because their mom went into congestive heart failure while delivering her third child. Other clients include families who find themselves homeless because their houses are in foreclosure or they've lost jobs unexpectedly.

"Single moms, especially, when they lose their job, there's nobody else to back them up," Swinford said.

For Ziegler, Austin's Place is only open through April 15, so the goal is to find somewhere the family can stay before then, Swinford said.

Ziegler has an interview Thursday at Restoration Urban Ministries, and continues to look for work. She had moved to Colorado Springs, where she has family and friends, because the company where she worked in California had closed.

"There's really not a whole lot out there," she said last week, talking from her van.

Crisis Nursery can help with short-term child care while she hunts for a job, and offers parent support groups and other programs to help her reconnect with her son.

"I can't say enough about this place," Ziegler said. "It's been such a godsend, such a blessing. Nobody's judging me. They just want to help."

The nursery's biggest state grant, about $68,000, was expected to be zeroed out under funding cuts proposed last month. But Record was told last week the Department of Human Services had decided to use federal funds to preserve the money for the state's Crisis Nurseries, at least for this fiscal year, and would try to do the same for fiscal 2012, which begins July 1.

The agency also gets a $12,500 emergency shelter grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Its status for 2012 is unclear, she said.