Shelter Yetu
Shelter Yetu is a nonprofit organization based in Naivasha, Kenya.
We believe in the worth of every child and every child’s right to have a safe loving, family. That’s why we work in Kenya to rescue children from the streets, provide them with rehabilitation services and reunite them with their families and communities. We then walk side-by-side with them to ensure their success.
Our mission is to provide street-connected children and their families with holistic care through prevention, rescue, rehabilitation, reunification and empowerment so that they can flourish together in healthy communities.
Our vision is a safe, loving family for every street-connected child and empowered, healthy families and communities.
Our board in Kenya consists of:
Igal Elfezouaty
Jayesh Sanghrajka
Kristen Lowry
Eunice Murage
Stephen Thompson
Our yearly audits are available for download below:
Friends of Naivasha Children's Shelter
Friends of Naivasha Children’s Shelter is a 501c3 committed to furthering the mission of Naivasha Children’s Shelter.
Friends of Naivasha Children's Shelter is based in Memphis, TN. FONCS was established in 2015 to give supporters in the States an easy, transparent way to support Naivasha Children's Shelter.
Our board in the States consists of:
Keith Okello - Chairman/Treasurer
Woody Woodward - Board member
Monty Newsome - Board member
Lily Russel - Board member
Janell Simmons - Board member
Doug Clevinger - Board member
Our tax documents are available for download below:
Our HisTory
Our story begins in 1996, when the East African Women’s League launched a feeding and teaching program at the YMCA in Naivasha town to help with the growing problem of street children. The project was very successful, but the children still had to leave at the end of the day and sleep on the streets.
The ladies continued to reach out to boys living on the streets until 2001, when Debbie Case and Melissa Keng realized their dream of establishing a home for the boys. Ten acres of land and a well were donated for construction of a shelter. Case and Keng rallied friends from around the world and Naivasha Children’s Shelter was born.
With the help of many generous friends, Keng and Case were able to build dorms, classrooms, offices and more.
Debbie Case, the founder of Naivasha Children’s Shelter with one of the boys during the feeding program at the YMCA. Debbie died peacefully in hospital on December 30, 2013 after being diagnosed with cancer in June.
Having lost her own daughter in terrible circumstances she put an enormous amount of love and energy into the Shelter, which was opened in 2003.
In 2015, Eunice Murage and Kristen Lowry joined the Shelter team as volunteer co-executive directors. Murage and Lowry continued the Shelter legacy with a new approach aimed at rescuing more children from the streets, and restoring them to their families and communities.
On any given day, Shelter is home to around fifty children who have the opportunity to begin a new life off of the streets as they pursue education, skills training, and are loved and cared for by a team of dedicated teachers and staff.
But Shelter reach extends into the community where Shelter social workers continue monthly follow up with children who have been reunited with their families—visiting them at home and at school and providing emergency services for their families.
In addition to education, the boys are given the opportunity to learn important life skills such as animal care, gardening, beadwork, cooking, sports and talent development.
The Shelter is set five kilometers from Naivasha town between G. K. Prison and Flower Business Park with an amazing view of Lake Naivasha.
our approach
RESCUE
We rescue vulnerable, at-risk children from the cruel dangers of life on the street and from government incarceration.
Our social workers reach out to children while they are still living on the streets, building relationships with them through shared meals, counseling, and sports.
We work with each child to find his family and understand the circumstances that drove him to a life on the streets. Often, the child experienced difficult circumstances either at home or at school, and opted for the streets as a way to escape from the difficult environment.
Boys are then rescued from the streets and brought to Shelter Yetu.
REHABILITATE
Shelter social workers will work with each boy and his family to develop an individual plan for rehabilitation and reunification. where they will be nurtured and cared for as they learn all of the skills they will need to return to their family.
Upon arrival, boys are provided with clean clothes, medical care, food, a warm bed to sleep in and loving adults who will care for them.
Boys are provided with both group and individual counseling, life skills training, remedial academic work and spiritual care. They also participate in normal family chores (milking the cows, washing their clothes, helping to prepare food), and learn how to be leaders in their communities. They also have the opportunity for recreational activities such as sports, hiking and games.
Social workers work with the children’s families to prepare them for reunification. They counsel them on parenting skills, and also help them organize self-help groups, that can help them secure loans to begin small businesses.
In cases where the child feels that either he is too old or too far behind to return to school, we give him the opportunity to study carpentry and welding at the Shelter, or to pursue another course while living with family.
REUNITE
Social workers assess a child’s home to make sure both the family and the child are prepared for reunification. If the family is ready, and a loving parent or family member is prepared to provide for the child’s basic needs and schooling, the boy is reunited with his family. Shelter social workers continue to conduct follow up visits at home and at school to make sure the child is progressing well.