As Christopher* walked with a social worker to the town where he said his parents were buried, a realization washed over him:

He had come to trust the Shelter Yetu staff that rescued him from street life weeks earlier.

It felt safe now to tell the truth—about everything.

Egans, the keen social worker, realized Christopher needed to share and suggested "Let’s have a cup of tea."

OPENING UP

Christopher explained he is not from this town. He actually comes all the way from the rural mountains of Northwest Kenya. And like most street children in Kenya, Christopher’s parents are alive.

In fact, he left behind his entire family—siblings, grandparents, and the entire village community. Christopher admitted he stole from his family and was afraid to face them.

Egans reassured him no amount of family discord or physical distance was too much to keep Shelter Yetu from helping him return home—nearly 250 miles away.

HOW WILL WE GET THERE?

Christopher’s journey began with counseling and healing at Shelter Yetu. Then, it was time for his initial home visit—nearly 250 miles away. In Kenya, that kind of trip is no Sunday drive.

Egans and Christopher spent the first four hours on a public bus. Then, they waited for one of only two daily cars to the next town. They arrived after dark and took a motorcycle taxi to the hills, where they continued on foot up rocky terrain. Finally, they reached Christopher’s village. The entire trip took about 12 hours.

But the journey was worth it when his family greeted them warmly. Egans knew it was time for the real work to begin…

THE REAL WORK BEGINS

The home visit let Egans observe family dynamics and needs. Christopher’s family was open about his past thefts, but they were eager to welcome him home with Shelter Yetu’s guidance.

Christopher soon moved back home. Though his village is remote, Egans has made several follow-up visits. He finds Christopher thriving in his community. He does his chores, respects elders, and enjoys working with his hands.

“He has shown remarkable progress in rebuilding his life,” Egans writes in his social worker notebook. “His family is supportive, and so thankful to Shelter Yetu.”

*Name changed to protect privacy.

Yetu staff with Christopher's family

With peers fixing a hut

Impact Report 2024 - A year of "family focus"

We are so deeply grateful for you! In 2024, your support allowed us to push into our newer strategy to REDUCE the number of street children in our region by…

💪🏽BUILDING STRONG FAMILIES💪🏽

Yes, we still rescue, rehabilitate, and reunite street children. But what keeps them reunited? STRONG FAMILIES stay together. You are empowering parents in new ways, and our relapse rates are declining.

Other 2025 highlights include:

• PARENT SKILLS: Ongoing home visits now include interactive lessons with parents on safety, child development, communication, positive discipline, etc.

• SAFER CAMPUS: New solar lights illuminate key parts of our grounds at night.

• OUTREACH: We are partnering with local leaders, educating many about better orphan care, and helped safely reunite 24 children with parents when the government shut down their orphanage.

Click here to see the full 2024 IMPACT REPORT, or highlights below.

None of this has been possible without your hearts for these children and families. THANK YOU!

Kristen Lowry and Eunice Murage

Co-Executive Directors, Shelter Yetu

Why your year-end gift matters in 2025

Tonight, as many as 300,000 kids still sleep on the streets in Kenya. Most left home because of poverty or a difficult family situation. Our staff serves faithfully and tirelessly, but skyrocketing Kenyan inflation has stretched us to capacity.

Kenyan inflation rates compared to previous year:
2021 6.11%
2022 7.65%
2023 7.68%
In 2025, we are budgeting a 10% inflation rate!!

A few more key facts:

*Our paid staff is made up of only Kenyan professionals who serve the boys and their families in a culturally caring and relevant way.

*As Kenyan policy evolves and orphanages adopt our family-based model (hooray!), competitive salaries are imperative for retention.

*Without more staff, children lose precious hours of personalized care from safe adults, which researchers agree is THE KEY to healing childhood trauma. This puts boys at great risk of returning to the streets.

Can you help? Here’s what we need:

• House parent (3 more needed) - Walks alongside a child from the moment of rescue and develops a personalized case plan. $2,000 each or $165/month

• Social worker (3 more needed) - Visits the families of children rescued by Shelter Yetu and develops a unique plan for children to return home safely. It may include economic empowerment, parenting skills, medical issues, counseling, etc. $2,400 each or $200/month

• Counselor (1 more needed) - Engages boys in group and individual sessions, inspiring them with tools to heal from trauma and thrive. $3,600 or $300/month

A gift of any amount is welcome and will bring new hope to a street-connected child. You are always welcome to reach out with questions! info@shelteryetu.org

Donate here. THANK YOU!

Pure Religion Sunday 2024

Would you share a word about Shelter Yetu with your church groups this week? Pure Religion Sunday is celebrated Nov. 10 in churches around the US. This rises from the roots of Orphan Sunday and carries on the heritage that "Pure religion is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction." James 1:27.

What can you do?

👉🏾 Ask your small group to pray for orphans and street-connected children worldwide to return to healthy families.

👉🏾 Share about Shelter Yetu, and place you know that is rescuing street children, rehabilitating them, and reuniting them with healthy families.

👉🏾 Pray for the boys currently in Shelter Yetu, the boys recently reunited with families, and for these families to thrive.

👉🏾 Consider taking an offering by passing the plate or sharing this QR code. (Click to print.)

A new kind of volunteer trip: Healthy 'attachment'

When I walked into Shelter Yetu for the first time, I kind of expected the boys to run into my arms with smiles like a slow-motion movie.

Well…that didn't happen. In fact, they continued in class like it was a typical day. I got a few stares, but more because I was a “mzungu” (white person) than anything else. 

I accepted the boys’ lack of enthusiasm as a stranger-danger mentality. It wasn't until later that I understood the boys acted this way because the Shelter is carefully protecting an important part of their social and emotional development: their ATTACHMENT style.

Children have a natural attachment to parents and family. It is a trust-based attachment instilled as a baby. Think about it: a baby cries, and the mother tends to it. Immediately, the baby trusts the mother to provide for its every need. We carry this trust for the rest of our lives.

If you were to come into my home, my 11-year-old sisters would not run up to you, hug you, or sit on your lap. They have a trust-based attachment with my family that they have not built with you. This being said, think about a child in an orphanage. He didn’t have the privilege of creating an attachment to his family but was biologically wired to search for it. While the caregivers in an orphanage indeed do their best, you can devote only so much time to each child. Therefore, a child can become starved for attachment. 

Now, enter the short-term mission team. When they arrive, the children run up to the team to hug, cuddle, take pictures, etc. The visitors feel like they are showing the children love. However, when the team leaves, the children are still at the orphanage with no one to attach to…. until the next team comes. This creates a cycle in the child's life of attaching without building trust. How damaging will it be for that child when they attach themselves to someone who should not be trusted? When they leave the orphanage at 18, they are in grave danger of being exploited.

Hence, it is a great thing when the boys at Shelter react to me with a bit of suspicion and hesitance. The Shelter, on occasion, and under great guidance, allow visitors in. Yet it looks nothing like the “knight in shining armor” picture I painted earlier.

The Shelter, through trauma-informed counseling and teaching, is working to encourage a healthy attachment to Shelter staff. They are also prepared emotionally to reunite and attach to their family. The staff puts in the hard work that might not look as “cute” as those pictures of volunteer teams in an orphanage. Yet, it is beautifully rich when the Shelter loves the boys enough to pursue a happy and healthy long-term home. 

Can volunteer teams and churches still make a difference? YES! Yetu Director Kristen Lowry consults with many stateside groups to help them find the right way to serve. Contact her at klowry@shelteryetu.org

Media Intern Josie Mae Wells spent weeks at Shelter Yetu and built some relationships with the boys through her media work. She is a student at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

Winnie talks family and future plans

Winnie with Shelter Yetu staff

Story by Chelsea Aalim, summer intern

In follow-up visits to Nakuru, Shelter Yetu is finding Winnie is exemplifying the true meaning of hard work. She has overcome hardship and is remarkably committed to earning a better life for herself and her family.

Shelter Yetu rescued her son Felix from the streets of Nairobi three years ago and he successfully completed the Shelter’s rehabilitation program. However, when it came time for Felix to return home, Shelter staff was concerned Winnie’s home was not suitable or properly equipped for Felix’s continued progress.

WHERE SHOULD FELIX GO?

Winnie, or “Mama Felix,” struggled to consistently provide three meals a day for her family. They slept on the floor due to a lack of furniture in their home. Rather than find Felix another home or keep in him the Shelter, Yetu invited Winnie to start a business through the Family Empowerment Program, helping her regain control over her situation. This intervention provided a stable environment for Felix while also empowering Winnie to become self-sufficient. By supporting her business endeavors, the Shelter has provided the necessary support to help mother and son remain together.

LAUNCHING A BUSINESS

When Shelter Yetu staff first visited her business, she was making 240 mandazis a day. Mandazis are a Kenyan dessert similar to an American doughnut.  With coaching from a Shelter Yetu empowerment officer, her business kept growing, and she now feels accomplished.

Every morning, Winnie wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and sells all her products by 9 p.m. Today, Winnie makes more than 1,000 mandazis daily and takes home around 1,500 shillings. With this income, she can manage

all her responsibilities, including school fees, rent, and three meals a day for her family. With this support Felix has excelled at this second attempt at life. Winnie is very proud of his progress. ”He does great in school and shows no signs of relapse,” she reports.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

When asked where she sees herself in 5 to 10 years, Winnie plans to grow her business and triple the amount of mandazi she sells. Winnie is now a young entrepreneur who has provided a comfortable life and built an environment that is conducive for learning, growth, and success for herself and her children.

THANK YOU for believing in Shelter Yetu’s mission to empower families as a long-term solution to improving lives like Winnie’s.

Your 2023 Impact Report

We are so deeply grateful for your support in a year of growth an improvement in 2023!

• On the new playground you built, street kids are experiencing safe childhood again.

• With staff you trained in parenting strategies, moms and dads are learning practical lessons in their homes on family connections, expectations, and discipline.

• Through business training and seed money, you’ve helped parents afford hot meals and school fees for their families.

Did you know you’ve also helped forge a national movement in Kenya this year? Traditional orphanages are now required to embrace a family-based care such as we have been providing for 10 years, Your Shelter has become a beacon, training others in the region. Countless children will be liberated, rehabilitated, and reunited with loving families!

Your ongoing, generous support is changing lives for vulnerable children and their families. Thank you!

Kristen Lowry and Eunice Murage

Co-Executive Directors, Shelter Yetu

Click here to see the full 2023 IMPACT REPORT, or here are some highlights:

Empowering families

We have a new way for you to support street children at Shelter Yetu: Empower their parents!

You can PREVENT children from returning to street life by giving their parents an opportunity to start a microbusiness and provide for their children.

Ten families are set to start this six-month empowerment program in February. Two other cohorts started last year and already seeing success garnering enough income to pay school fees and provide more meals per day.

WHY? RELAPSE RISK IS REAL. As we rescue children and prepare them to go back home, we see many families struggle to meet basic needs. This often leads to children begging on the streets and dropping out of school, drugs, gangs, and criminal activity.

Children in safe homes with stable incomes are much more likely to thrive!

Each family’s spot in the program program will cost $1,000 and provides this family:

• 2 weeks intensive group training in microbusiness and savings/loan groups

• Seed money for a micro business

• Food and school fees support, which tapers off as their businesses grow

• 6 weeks of follow-up and coaching

• 4 months of check-ins

• An amazing opportunity to rise out of poverty with dignity so their children may NEVER live on the streets. 

Would you like to sponsor a family? Click here: https://donorbox.org/family-empowerment-program

Please contact us with any questions: info@shelteryetu.org

Sometimes, it's someone else

KINSHIP is a powerful word in our work, especially when parents are not an option.

We found Benjamin* in April, surviving on the street by begging for handouts from people in cars he guided through parking lots. He hadn't seen his mom since he was a toddler. When is grandmother passed away, he couldn't bear to live with his father's addiction and abuse. He skipped between friends’ houses, but eventually ended up living on the street before he joined us a Shelter Yetu. As he worked through the rehabilitation program, social workers tracked down an aunt with a safe and welcoming home.

Everyone was smiling the day he moved into her home last month. Shelter staff helped him bond with the other children in the home, engaged neighbors, and guided his aunt to a nearby school to start enrollment. Follow-up visits reveal he is doing well with this "kinship" family! Thank you for playing your part in these success stories happening every week!

*At Shelter Yetu, we respect children's right to privacy. So while their stories are true, client names and images may have been changed to protect their privacy. Thank you for understanding.

Churches & Orphans - Changing your conversation

Is your church’s orphan strategy reuniting families?

Churches have been strong champions for international orphan care, but is their approach effective? Our co-director Kristen Lowry is helping churches rethink the ways they have been serving vulnerable children.

As a consultant for Send Relief, Lowry is helping churches transition away from supporting institutions that indefinitely house children. (Research is showing most “orphans” have families.) Lowry is showing churches how to work with “family-based” organizations that find children safe, loving families through reunification with parents, kinship care, adoption, or foster care.

This shift can be difficult for churches who have sent long-term financial support to partner institutions, or who have sent short-term teams to serve the same orphanages for a few days each year.

Lowry commends churches for serving children, but short-term teams may not be benefit children who may have attachment disorders due to abandonment and/or other trauma. Also, churches should ensure their financial gifts are supporting legitimate strategies.

How can a church pivot to more effective orphan care? Reach out for free a personal consultation with Lowry here.

Other tips to flip the conversation for your church:

• Learn about family-based care.

• Approach your outreach leaders with questions about the strategies used by orphanages your church supports.

• Plan a vision trip to a family-based place like Shelter Yetu.

• Consider alternatives to temporary care for children: Empower their caregivers, encourage social workers & long-term missionaries, train teachers, equip parents, etc.

• Listen to Lowry and other church leaders on this “Think Orphan” podcast:

This one's for the girls...

Amani* (far right) is the sister of one of our former Shelter Yetu boys.

Shelter Yetu focuses our rescue efforts of boys because of the high number of boys living on the streets.

However, when our social workers are out in the community, they are always looking for opportunities to serve and empower girls. Recently, one of our social workers conducted a home visit with family where he had recently reunified a young boy.

The social worker found fourteen-year-old Amani* at home. She dropped out of school in fourth grade when her parents separated and her mother began to struggle with finances.

As they were talking, Amani shared her desire to go back to school.

Amani admitted to feeling lonely at home when other children her age are in school.

She shared that older men in the community are hitting on her and pressuring her toward early marriage. Relatives are also pressuring her to engage in domestic work in exchange for food.

But Amani dreams of a different life. And now, because of your support, Shelter Yetu is helping Amani to return to school!

We are currently in the process of working with a local school to re-enroll Amani.

She is so excited to go to school and dreams of being able to support her mother once she has finished her studies and gotten a good job.

*At Shelter Yetu, we respect children's right to privacy. So while their stories are true, client names and images may have been changed to protect their privacy. Thank you for understanding.

YOU are growing a national movement in Kenya

Our dorms have a safe bed for every boy, but this is meant to be a temporary stop on the way back to a safe home.

Kenya’s government is making monumental reforms to orphan care, and Shelter Yetu is excited to be a resource helping NINE orphanages throughout the region embrace these positive changes.

In the next 10 years, Kenya’s “Care Reform Strategy” will seek to transition the majority of children in traditional orphanages to the same kind of family-based care Shelter Yetu offers. The goal is to prevent children from living long-term in institutions and send more children home. We truly believe THIS way is better!

A nearby orphanage housing 75 children is one of the first in the region to seriously embrace these changes being partnering with Shelter Yetu for help. In the last two weeks, Shelter Yetu has been invited to assist 8 more orphanages, serving a total of about 400 children.

Two Shelter Yetu social workers will soon be training the orphanage staff in trauma-informed care, family tracing, case management and parent empowerment. 

“Most of these orphanages are serving children who are not orphans at all, but children who have been disconnected from their families,” said Kristen Lowry, Co-Executive Director of Shelter Yetu. “We know they are doing the best they can, but we are so happy to help them–and anyone near us who wants to learn about what we are doing.”

Thank you for supporting Shelter Yetu. YOU are influencing orphan care throughout Kenya for the better.

A new opportunity for 20 families...

We are excited to kick off something new!

The last two weeks, a facilitator from Zambia is teaching all our social workers about a family preservation and empowerment program called the Graduation Approach. This time-bound model teaches poor and vulnerable families about:

• financial literacy

• how to form savings and loans groups

• entrepreneurship and skills training

• using seed capital to begin a small business

The program also provides families with seed capital and supports their family’s basic needs as they establish a new business.

We plan to pilot this project with 20 families. Half will be families with children that Shelter Yetu has rescued from the streets, and the other 10 families are at risk of separation. We hope this will give parents dignity, lift them out of poverty, and allow them to provide for their families!

Another organization using this program reports great results: 95 percent of the families who were eating one meal a day are now eating two or three meals a day. That’s a big impact!

This initiative aligns perfectly with our mission to empower vulnerable families to move beyond extreme poverty and become self-reliant to meet their own basic needs, improve their communities, and build better futures for themselves and their children. Please reach out if you would like more information about this initiative or would like to partner with us.

Shelter staff heads into the field as part of the practical training for “The Graduation Approach.”

Your impact in 2022 - It was a year of growth!

Before we get too far into 2023, we want you know the impact your support made in 2022. It was a great year!

• 119 children rescued off the streets.

• 95 children reunited with safe, loving families.

• 2 young men transitioned to independent living.

• 205 families received ongoing support.

• 15 young adults received technical training.

• 100 children attended schools with school fees covered.

• 49 families nourished through emergency food support.

Your support also helped:

• build a new front wall and organic garden (see photo below)

• open our new social work office.

• open our new counseling house.

• complete general renovations.

• hire four new full-time staff.

• train 23 orphanages in family and community-based care.

THANK YOU for continuing to invest in vulnerable children and families in Kenya! Stay tuned to read about our growth plans for 2023, and how you can be involved.

Sometimes it's simple...

Often, Shelter Yetu social workers deal with incredibly heart-breaking and complex cases. But sometimes, the solution is simple.

Boniface* is the fifth-born of eight children. He lives with his mother and siblings, and was attending school until January of this year. In January, Boniface lost two of his school books on the way from home. He was told by his teacher that he couldn't return to school until he had paid for them in full. Because he knew his mother was struggling to make ends meet, he opted to go to the streets to try and make some money.

On the streets, he succumbed to peer pressure, and began using some drugs. Then he felt too ashamed to go home. In February, a Shelter street officer rescued Boniface and brought him to Shelter Yetu. After three months of healing at the Shelter, Boniface was ready to return home. Shelter Yetu was able to pay for his lost books, and now Boniface is back at school! Our social worker will continue checking on him at home and at school every month to make sure he's doing well.


*At Shelter Yetu, we respect children's right to privacy. So while their stories are true, client names and images may have been changed to protect their privacy. Thank you for understanding.

Coming soon: IMPACT TRIPS!

Have you ever wanted to visit Shelter Yetu in Kenya? See the work of the Shelter firsthand? After two years of COVID restrictions, we are excited to be hosting friends of the Shelter again in Naivasha soon.

Please help us by filling out a (very) short survey so we can begin planning impact trips for the near future!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LHNS2VC

And if you or your church are interested in coming on a pilot impact trip to Shelter Yetu, please reach out to info@shelteryetu.org.

Support For The Whole Family

We are constantly working to grow and improve our family strengthening process. Regular follow up is an important part of this, and as we've mentioned in previous updates, we've expanded our educational support to include siblings and other children in the home. The success of a reintegrated child is so dependent on the health of the entire family, so we are really focused on strengthening the family unit and support system for each boy who goes home. Children belong in families.

Healing For Henry

Henry* is a very special case, and one that required collaboration between many different people and organizations. 

Henry came to Shelter in August 2020 at just 12 years old. He had been staying on and off the streets for more than a year, and was suffering from many setbacks, including cognitive delays due to drug use and behavioral struggles. In his first few months at Shelter, it was difficult for him to even remain in class with his peers.

Over time, and thanks to the diligence of our social work and academic team, Henry began to make progress - academically, behaviorally, and socially. The social work team also began working with his family, and found that his grandmother was willing and able to be his primary caregiver, and she was committed to his success.
  Social work staff at Shelter, along with Henry's family, began making a plan for him to return home and be enrolled in school. Everyone knew that he would need a lot of support from his teachers and administrators in order to succeed. Fortunately, his family was able to find a great school and they spent a lot of time with the school staff, updating them on Henry's special needs. His teachers committed to the family that they would do everything they can to ensure Henry catches up to his peers. 

Since being reintegrated in July 2021, Henry has not only survived, but thrived at home and school. His family and teachers report he has improved significantly in every area, and he is always beaming when Shelter staff comes to visit him.

We are so grateful for everyone who contributed and continues to contribute to Henry's success!
*At Shelter Yetu, we respect children's right to privacy. So while their stories are true, client names and images may have been changed to protect their privacy. Thank you for understanding.

In order to continue supporting children and families like Henry's, we need your help!

If you'd like to be a part of this important work, you can submit a one-time or recurring monthly gift.

Thank you!

2021 Wrap-Up

We are incredibly grateful for our busiest and most successful year yet! Thanks to your support, we were able to rescue, rehabilitate and reunite more children than ever.

In 2021, we:

• impacted 465 families

• rescued 131 children from the streets

• reunited 72 children with their families

• trained 20 young adults in a technical skill

• supported 46 families with monthly food distribution

• provided education support for 69 former residents and 12 siblings

We are thankful that 2021 was a hugely successful year for our work. In the coming year, there are some large projects we need to accomplish in addition to our normal work of rescuing. With your support, we hope to:

• build a new garden that can serve as a food source for the children, an additional source of income and a training ground for learning sustainable farming practices.

• rebuild our perimeter wall which was destroyed last year so that Shelter Yetu will remain safe and secure.

• hire a second counselor to meet the needs of the children and families that come through the Shelter.

• hire an additional social worker to help with follow-up of more than 200 children in the community.

Please consider investing in one of these critical projects. For more information, or to contribute toward one of these projects specifically, you can get in touch through our email: info@shelteryetu.org

Rescuing Isaac

2022 is already in full swing, and we have rescued 25 boys to date. One of those boys is Isaac.*

Our street officer is in the field every week - this is a very important part of our rescue process, as he is able to identify boys who are new to the street and prevent them from experiencing the hardships and abuse that come from life on the streets.

Twelve-year-old Isaac only spent one night on the street before being rescued. He had never given his mother any trouble, but had begun spending time with some peers in town, selling scrap metal. He was eventually influenced to sleep in town by those peers, but met our street officer and was rescued the very next day. While counselors and teachers were preparing Issac to return home, his mother was searching him every day after work and had almost given up hope when he arrived home with a Shelter social worker. She was overjoyed to see him, and he was just as thrilled to see her. Because of Shelter Yetu's quick intervention, Issac was spared many of the horrors of life of the streets.

A reintegration plan has already been put in place for Isaac, and he will be home with his family and back in school by the next term.

*At Shelter Yetu, we respect children's right to privacy. So while their stories are true, client names and images may have been changed to protect their privacy. Thank you for understanding.

Here are just a few of the boys who've been reintegrated recently or are currently in the process of being reintegrated.

It's Not Too Late To Make A 2021 Donation

2021 was another difficult year for all of us.

The pandemic continues bring challenges across the globe, especially for families who were already struggling. In Kenya, economic instability continues to drive more children to the streets.

Yet, despite the challenges, Shelter Yetu has had our most successful year ever. As of this week, we have rescued 130 children from the streets, almost doubling our impact from the previous year.

And we continue follow up on more than 200 families in the community, making sure that children reintegrated to their communities (and their families) have all the support they need.

We have expanded our operations into Nairobi, and almost doubled our staff in the last two years.

Yet, there is more work to be done. There are still 300,000 children living on the streets of Kenya, separated from care of a loving family.

In this season of giving, we want to invite you to partner with us to rescue vulnerable children,  restore families, and strengthen communities please consider an end of year *tax-deductible donation to Shelter Yetu.

Our work can't continue without your support.

*Donations must be postmarked December 31, 2021 or earlier to be deductible from 2021 taxes. Online donations are valid until 11:59 PM 12/31/2021!
 

Thank you,

Eunice Murage and Kristen Lowry
Co-Executive Directors, Shelter Yetu

The Heart Of The Rescue Mission

Multiplying Hope

As the year comes to a close, we are celebrating so many successes as an organization. Those of you who have been following us for some time may remember that we have been working hard to reach more children and families, focusing on more rescues, quicker (safe) reintegrations, and dedicated follow-up. As we've looked at the numbers and figures over the past 6 years, we are blown away at how our efforts are paying off, and we wanted to share those statistics with you.

2016
31 boys rescued
17 boys reintegrated with family

2017
32 boys rescued
19 boys reintegrated with family

2018
23 boys rescued
16 boys reintegrated with family

2019
41 boys rescued
38 boys reintegrated with family

2020
70 boys rescued
43 boys reintegrated with family

2021 (to date)
120+ boys rescued
50+ boys reintegrated with family

We are blown away at how we've been able to improve our processes and serve more children and families. This exponential growth would not be possible without our generous supporters.

---

Rescuing…From What?

One of our Co-Executive Directors, Kristen Lowry, recently wrote about her time in Nairobi doing street work alongside our street officer.
_________________
This afternoon I joined the Shelter Yetu street officer, Elphas, as he did street work in Nairobi. We visited three bases. We saw more than 300 children.

With the Shelter, we often talk about “rescuing” children living on the streets. But what does that mean? Rescued from what?

Wherever you step, your foot sinks down into layers of sewage and trash.
Everything is black from burning tires. The air is thick with smoke. With jet fuel, and marijuana.

Children are sleeping in the sewage. Young girls, pregnant, are sniffing glue while holding their infant babies.

There is a level of desperation, of hopelessness, that most of us will never encounter. This is hell on earth.

“Please can you rent a room for me and my baby to be safe?” Rape, the threat of rape. These children have no safe place. No way to close the door and rest for a moment.

A young mama picks up a cookie off the filth and breaks it in half, giving half to her toddler and eating half herself.

The violence. A teenage boys picks up a stick from a pile of firewood and begins hitting other children with it. No one bothers to stop him.

A baby, wearing a diaper she’s probably been wearing for days. Her mama: “Please, can you buy me a pack of pampers?”

It is hell. There is no safe place. There is no escaping. There is no one you can trust, no place you can rest. No door to close to make it all go away, even for a moment.

An 11-year-old boy, asleep in a pile of sewage next to the river. Sewage leaks from a pipe above his head. Flies everywhere—he doesn’t even bother to swat them away anymore. He’s tired. Too tired to get up and see what is happening. Too tired to receive the food we are offering.

This is what we are rescuing from. This is real.

One of the boys was talking to me as we walked to the tin-shack restaurant. “We are trash eaters. Do you know chokoraa? It means trash eater. This is us!”

No, I wanted to tell him. You are wapendwa wa Mungu. Beloved of God. You are worth so much more than this. But the words caught in my throat.

---

Did you know that the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is known as "Giving Tuesday?" It's an opportunity to remember and support the important work of nonprofits in the midst of the holiday shopping season.

This year Giving Tuesday falls on November 30th, and we are inviting you to partner with us to grow and expand our operations even further. To do so, we need to hire an additional social worker, counselor, and teacher next year.

We need 15 new partners to commit to $50 a month in order to reach more children living on the streets. If you're willing to stand with us, please sign up for a monthly donation and comment "Giving Tuesday" in the comment box. Also, keep your eyes on our social media on November 30th for one-time donation opportunities that will be matched!

Together, we can change the lives of vulnerable children.

Officially Shelter Yetu!

It’s Official!

Earlier this month, we celebrated 20 years of Shelter and our transition from Naivasha Children's Shelter to Shelter Yetu.

We enjoyed celebrating with so many who have invested in our program over the last two decades, including our directors, board members, our local children's officer, and many other community members and supporters. We also debuted our documentary short that highlights the great work being done at Shelter. We hope you will take some time to watch it here.

If you're not already following us on social media, please check out our new links at the bottom of this email.

Check out a few of our favorite moments from the celebration!

A big way we support reintegrated boys and their families is by helping provide school and uniform fees so that the boys and their siblings can continue their education. This term, Shelter Yetu is supporting:

• 52 children in primary school

• 11 children in secondary school

• 3 young adults in college

If you’d like to assist us with school fees, please reach out at info@shelteryetu.org
or, donate at shelteryetu.org/donate and comment “school fees.” We appreciate your help as we support these families.

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We are so thankful for 20 years of service to street-connected boys and their families. It would not be possible without your generosity.

If you'd like to support our ongoing efforts to restore families, you can submit a one-time or recurring monthly gift.

Thank you!