Sparrow's Nest

During 2023, Sparrow's Nest continued to fulfill our mission to care for orphaned and abandoned children in latvia and to serve as a model for family style out of family care. We also continued to help ukrainian refugees and orphans with housing and employment in 2023. We continue to operate three homes for children and a farm for camp and holiday care. Our children range in age from three years to 19 years old. We are cooperating with the foster family association to place children in long term foster care when most beneficial. During 2023, - 37 children were placed in residential care for short term crisis care of up to 3 months. - 32 children were placed in residential care for long term care of 3 months or longer. - 11 ukrainian orphans were served in residential care and then transferred with their assigned foster family to a private home. - international adoption is closed in latvia so children leaving our care were largely placed in foster care. Several of the younger children are in foster/adopt situations. While our primary focus is the care of children, in 2023 we were fortunate to receive contributions to repair and update our children's homes. We were able to refresh our playground creating a safe environment for the children to play. We installed solar panels that will decrease monthly electric bills and provide an alternate energy source. Our homes needed new paint and trim work. Designated donations made this possible. The work was done in the most cost-effective manner. Some of the work was accomplished with the help of volunteers. Moving forward, we have well repaired and updated facilities to provide for the children in our care. The overall scope of our work includes meeting the physical, mental, and emotional needs of each child. Medical care and assessment is one of the first steps when a child is placed in our care. As we build relationship and trust, each child is evaluated for placement in school and identification of any learning disabilities or gaps in education. Our montessori specialist assists with both learning gaps and learning disabilities. Children are encouraged and supported as they complete homework assignments. Children have individual time with our social worker and meet regularly and as needed with a psychologist. We also have speech, water, sand, and animal therapy. Children attend local churches and we are available to answer questions about spiritual issues. We have 25 full-time and 6 part-time staff members. Staff members attend daily, weekly, and monthly meetings to remain fully informed of the needs and schedule of the children. All full-time staff members are fully informed of the individual care plan for each child. Our objectives for each child include: 1.) Rescue and receiving the child; 2.) Relief of immediate suffering; 3.) Restoration of health, education needs, and trust; 4.) Replacement in a family. Every child needs a family to belong to for the rest of their lives. During 2023, we used our farm property for school holidays and summer vacation. We had 18 volunteers from lithuania who came to provide a camp experience for our children. We had several volunteer groups who came to help us chop wood and clean the forest for the winter months. We also had a regular volunteer from lithuania who came one weekend a month to work with the children.