The Nurturing Education and Skills Training Program (NEST) is a long-term (15 Months) residential transitional living program for homeless pregnant and/or parenting youth ages 18-25 and their children ages 0-5. The services offered are designed to help young people who are homeless make a successful transition to self-sufficient living and successful parenting.
When a family enters the NEST, we provide a host of services starting with responding to their most acute and basic needs of food, safety and stable housing in a supportive environment. Our young parents receive assistance with goal setting, independent living skills, nutrition, financial education, child development and parenting classes. Additionally, the NEST provides eligible youth access to mental health services, transportation assistance and referrals to community resources which promote long term independence fostering the wellbeing of families and their children.
The NEST has served 40 families in the last 7 years with great success. Presently we have 6 young adults and 7 children. All our families have been working hard on achieving their personal goals. We have one mom in the process of moving into her first apartment, a new mom figuring out how to juggle parenting while working full-time as well as a single mom getting ready to graduate from college in May. We are proud to have our first single father who is employed and on the management track while concurrently working on obtaining his high school diploma. Two of our moms are gainfully employed and one is preparing to start her Dental Assistant program in August.
We are grateful to our community partners and funders for their support of our families and the NEST program. We are especially grateful to Lake County Behavioral Health for their funding and support. Incorporating specialty mental health services as part of the NEST has been instrumental in helping our clients navigate the many stressors that young adults face in the journey to become successful, independent, and contributing members of the community.
“While the N.E.S.T is known for offering a safe place for women and children; for me, it has offered so much more. Not only has the NEST assisted me with getting childcare for my daughter, the NEST has also assisted me with saving money, (going to) school, and locating housing. I have been able to peacefully and safely parent my child in a clean and neat environment and will always be thankful for the extra guidance in this relentless journey.”- CO
