The Nest offers security, healing
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The Nest is now open and providing services to its first residents, young pregnant and parenting moms who need a safe and secure place to live. We have room for three families to live here, but we also provide classes and workshops for interested community members. We thought the public might want to know more about The Nest, so we are taking this opportunity to clarify our mission and purpose.
The Nest was created primarily to address the effects of adverse childhood experiences, commonly called ACEs, since those “experiences” often alter a child’s life in destructive ways. Things such as witnessing abuse, living in ahousehold with people who have drug/alcohol addictions and/or mental health disorders, or in households where stressful situations are a daily occurrence, can have a devastating effect on a developing brain. The years from prenatal to age 5 are the most significant times in brain development, and the environment a child lives in during those years will be reflected in the adult that they become. With this information in hand, we felt that providing a place for healing, where families may live in safety and security, where life skills, parenting, and gardening/ nutrition are a primary focus, was an important mission. As it turns out, it is one that many amazing individuals, businesses and foundations support.
The Nest is not an emergency shelter; it is transitional housing with supportive services for women with children escaping abusive situations. An expected length of stay is at least six months and up to two years. We can accommodate young moms with kids under the age of 5.
We are not set up as a therapeutic residence, so we can’t take people who currently struggle with addiction. We do not have the capacity to support such a special population. We are here for the mom escaping abuse, the mom who had gotten off track but now wants to get back on track to make sure that her kids have a good start in life.
We exist for the pregnant young woman who wants to finish high school and have a career, but needs support to balance caring for her baby and concentrating on her studies.
We are here for the woman who understands the value of having a safe place to live and the support from caring adults who are happy to share their knowledge; for the woman who wants to work hard to achieve her goals but is not sure where to start, and for the person who just does not have the resources right now to build a successful life, but has the will to make it happen.
There are not a lot of rules at The Nest; it is a home where we encourage people to treat each other with respect, where chores are shared, and where open and honest communication is key.
At The Nest, we will give our moms and their children the time and the necessary resources to heal from any trauma they may have experienced before we introduce them to the “Conditions for Success” through which they can choose their own personal goals in different areas of life (parenting, career, spiritual/cultural, etc).
The Nest also partners with a new program called Wrapped in Hope. This program has been created to help address the rising number of pregnancies affected by drugs, since approximately 25 percent of the deliveries in Lake County/ the Flathead Reservation in 2015 were drug affected. The Nest fully supports these efforts and is a part of the team (which includes health professionals from the two local hospitals and CSKT tribal health) that provides services to these women and their babies. Once these women are on the road to recovery, we can help them get their life back on track.
We understand there are many reasons that prevent a single mom from providing an optimal situation for her child(ren). That is why The Nest was created. All young ones deserve a stress-free existence, and we at The Nest want to help to make that happen — because their lives truly depend on it.
For more information regarding The Nest, call 406- 745-3757 or email nestmontana@gmail.com; for information about Wrapped in Hope call 406-871-7078 or email Wrappedinhope2@gmail.com.
