Alex Jacobsen
Blog For The nest
5/9/14
The Nest is a Center for Women, Children and Families was formed in 1977.
Previously known as the Lexington Child Abuse Council and the Women's Center of
Central Kentucky, these two organizations joined forces to become The Nest. The
organization streamlined the work of both entities into one that could provide
high quality, comprehensive services to women and families in crisis while
working to prevent child abuse and neglect. The center has continually offered resources
for families to develop the skills and habits needed for a healthier lifestyle.
Resources at The Nest have long included childcare, counseling services,
parenting classes and crisis case management. The Nest also includes parent education, emergency
childcare, and basic supplies for families in crisis. They’re great at
providing a safe, healing place for everyone. According to their website,
programs work together to offer the nurturing support individuals and families
need during times of transition or crisis. The Nest
has long provided childcare services to families as well as "drop-in"
childcare to accommodate parents who are under stress and need time away from
their children. This service allows parents who have no support system they can
count on for child care to make it to appointments or simply to have a needed
break, while knowing their child is in a safe, nurturing environment. The
childcare center was forced to close for much of 2009, but reopened in March
2010. It continues to provide care with an educational emphasis that helps a
child develop and learn with peers. It also continues to provide respite
childcare.
While
interviewing my stakeholder named Sheri Estill, I was aware that she was the
leading director of the crisis hotline and center that is provided at the nest.
Sheri has worked in the corporate field for 17
years, specializing in Management and Coaching & Development of employees.
She taught Adult Literacy and was company coordinator/mentor for
"at-risk" high school students. She is a speaker for the Alzheimer's
Associate of Greater Kentucky. While I was speaking to Sheri, when I first
walked into her office I noticed that her whole wall was filled with things
that people needed, including shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste and toothbrushes,
blankets, emergency food, toiletries and many more. Most of the items above they receive from individuals, churches
and organizations in the community who share the same commitment to helping
people through rough times. Sheri is an on
call Crisis care employee that takes calls of anyone who is in need of help
with financial aid, medical care, housing and more. Sheri also allows the people in need to come in and meet
with her and sit down and talk about how to get a job, what to do in an interview,
or anything you need to make your life better. The Nest offers many programs with great therapy services
along parenting education and support, to ensure a better life for their
children. Another program they offer is a child care/victim program, Sheri told
us that “if you don’t have access to family/friends, or child care systems, to
call the nest and see if we have space in the child care center, where you can
drop off your kid at some place safe, especially if you don’t think you can do
it on your own.” Sheri’s main role at the Nest is working the Crisis care, to
help with children and families in need.
Another
main part that I spoke to Sheri about was how they are getting their money,
currently The Nest is working pay check to pay check, and sometimes they come
very close to having to shut down because they don’t have enough money, the
board members along with Sheri have to find ways to raise money so that they
can keep The Nest up and running. She stated in the interview “She asks for
donations from the community along with small grants through LFUCG, because
they let them know weather they are doing something unique or their doing
something that other places are doing as well. The nest offers services that many other places don’t
offer.” Sheri talked a lot about
the fact that there is a domestic violence problem, which is one of their main
concerns at The Nest; they state on their website that “domestic violence is a pattern of verbal or physical abuse that
one person in a relationship uses to control another. It is not the same thing
as a basic disagreement or conflict. This abuse can happen with any couple
whether married or unmarried, heterosexual or gay. Often the emotional and
psychological affects are detrimental and long-lasting to victims, including
children who witness such abuse.”
Sheri
felt thrilled to explain to us that they try so hard to get the word out about
the nest, weather its over facebook, or other social medias, in the paper, or
even through sororities and fraternities, us making this video is getting their
name out there enough to help even in the slightest bit. The main way they
spread the word about the nest is through a phone tree and social networking,
she stated that “networking is a powerful thing because you never know who
people know and how much one little bit of information can be spread to others
in helping The Nest.” Many people come to The Nest, from hearing about it from
other people; people in need of help will do what they can to come to Lexington
just to get financial and family help. For example, a parent is searching for a
job, has an appointment, feels stressed and needs a break. This is a short-term
service meant to help parents move themselves into a better position that will
benefit the entire family. The nest wants to ensure that your child is getting
the best help that they can, its not just a babysitting service but it is also
an educational service as well, they want to be able to get your child ready
for 1st grade, and ready to go into the world knowing what to
expect, even at a young age.
The
Crisis center is reaching out in many ways to help benefit our issue of working
pay check to pay check, they throw many fundraiser to help raise money along
with providing help to families in hope that they tell others to get help as
well. The more people they can help the more money they can raise, to help more
families in the future. In an online journal I read called Running on
Empty: The Operating Reserves of U.S. Nonprofit Organizations it related a lot to the issues that The nest is dealing with when it
comes to money issues and being a nonprofit organization. It states, “Significant numbers of nonprofits
maintain no operating reserves at all. One potential explanation is that
organizations discount the benefits of reserves because they are evaluated on
spending, focusing instead on the 'benefits of costs.' This preference for
spending over reserving may also help explain the general lack of liquidity in
the sector beyond operating reserves alone.” This statement refers a lot to any
nonprofit organization, but especially The Nest. The benefits of costs are hard
to maintain when they are always spending money on the families and ways to get
more things to give the families. They forget that the need to save the money,
but it is extremely hard when their main focus is getting things for families
in need, thus meaning the pay check to pay check issue that The Nest is dealing
with.
The
nest also refers people and families to organizations if they feel that The
Nest can’t provide the needs and services that they offer. They have about 20
other organizations that they offer to the people which help tremendously if
The Nest can’t provide the right services, their top organization that they
refer to is Beyond the Violence in Lexington KY. This organization offers a lot
of help for kids and families that get stuck in violent situations. The Nest benefits a tremendous number of kids and families in
Lexington and, to a certain extent, in the surrounding counties. They care for
these kids at a cost of about $10 per hour. They try to find a baby sitter for
your children for $10 per hour along with a preschool for your kids at $10 per
hour.
Everyone
needs a little help when it comes to caring for children. The Nest Child Care
Center offers some of that help in the form of full-time and respite childcare.
Full-time care is for parents who are working, attending school or has another
ongoing obligation. Full-time care is provided on a contract basis for
specified days and times. The center's highly qualified staff provides children
with a structured daily curriculum in an appealing environment. Their loving,
tender and understanding care, in addition to age appropriate activities,
nurtures the children as they learn and develop. As only one part of the
services offered by The Nest, the childcare staff is able to take advantage of
all of the organization's resources for their clients. They can refer families
to the appropriate programs to meet their needs. They can also address the
immediate needs of the children. When a child arrived unbathed because of lack
of heat in the home, they bathed the child. When someone arrived clutching a
soiled blanket, they gently replaced it with a new one. When a family said they
didn't have shampoo, the staff found some. This is a child care provider that
offers education built on a foundation of caring.
Additional Sources : Interview with Sheri Estill, Interview with Jeffrey White
& E-Book: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=617ff4c5-1a37-4025-b2e1-e7c6e0a1836e%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4203&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=85921897
