House of Plenty Safe Shelters provide shelter, food, healthcare, counseling and education to street children and sexually exploited children under the care of specially trained caregivers
Safe Shelter Model
How it all started
The first Safe Shelter under the name House of Plenty opened in 1997 in Nakuru, Kenya as part of Dr Wanjiku Kaime-Atterhög’s doctoral research on street children and their caregivers. She learned that despite interventions and commitment of caregivers, many children still returned to the streets and the number of street children continued to grow. Determined to find out why, she left all judgement and preconceptions behind and went back to the streets, to hear the children's own stories, in their own setting, respecting them as individuals capable of making their own decisions. She gained their trust and they told her about their needs and how they would like to have them met. They also shared their dreams and hopes for a better future away from the streets.
From Children of the Garbage Bins To Citizens
With this knowledge, and together with the children, Wanjiku and her brother developed a safe shelter which has successfully rescued, rehabilitated and reintegrated 17 children from the streets of Nakuru. Today this home serves as a model for caregivers working with street children and other disadvantaged children. Her methods have been used in a SIDA International Training program where street children and experienced caregivers teach side by side with Wanjiku. And to date, 150 caregivers from 13 countries have taken part of the training.