The program reaches out to prevent the children of imprisoned mothers from fighting for survival on the street. The Nest rescues affected children and improves their living conditions during the imprisonment of their mothers. We rehabilitate and later reintegrate them and their released mothers with their extended families and society at large. We also work to create public awareness about the plight of children whose mothers are imprisoned for petty offenses.

The home was officially opened in 1997 by the founder and director Irene Baumgartner.

Children of imprisoned mothers are committed into the Nest’s care by the Children’s Court. They are housed in our Children’s Home, located in Limuru, 20 km northwest of Nairobi. Here, children receive holistic care and formal education for time their mothers are imprisoned. The children’s home was officially opened in 1997.

Many children are traumatized after experiencing crime or abuse and the arrest of and separation from their mothers. Counseling, provided in the Nest’s loving environment, can heal the wounds they suffer in body and soul.

To date, we care for 70 children—ranging from newborn to 17-year-olds. In order to maintain the bond between the children and their imprisoned mothers, the Nest ensures the children regularly visit their mothers in prison. We also care for a number of abandoned babies for whom we try to find loving families.

Our Halfway House, located in the Northern suburbs of Nairobi, provides emergency accommodation for up to 10 mothers with young children upon their release from prison. Here, mothers and children are reunited, often for the first time in years. Along with counseling, spiritual and moral support, and civic education, the women rebuild their self-confidence for reintegration