The NEST Project

08/27/2026

💙🧩 THE NEST PROJECT IS HEADING TO PITTSBURGH — AND WE WANT YOU ON OUR TEAM! 🧩💙

We officially joined the 2026 Autism Speaks Pittsburgh Empower Walk + 5K Run and we’re looking for people to come out, walk with us, and help us reach our $500 fundraising goal! 🙌

📅 Saturday, September 19, 2026
📍 Acrisure Stadium — Pittsburgh, PA

EVENT SCHEDULE:
💙 9:00 AM — Registration Opens
🦸 9:45 AM — Superhero Sprint
🎤 10:00 AM — Opening Ceremony
🏃 10:20 AM — 5K Run Starts
🚶 10:45 AM — Walk Starts
🎉 11:30 AM — Closing Ceremony

✨ WANT TO JOIN OUR TEAM?

Walking is FREE to register! If you'd like to walk with The NEST Project, please DM us to register.

👕 BONUS: Everyone who joins our team will receive a FREE NEST team T-shirt from us so we can all match and represent together! 💙

Can't make it but still want to support us?

🎯 OUR GOAL: $500!

Every donation — $5, $10, $25 or whatever you can give — gets us one step closer!

👇 JOIN OUR TEAM OR DONATE HERE!
https://join.autismspeaks.org/team/847485

Come walk with us, bring the family, meet other families, and help us show up BIG for the autism community. 💙

WHO WANTS TO JOIN TEAM NEST?! 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

08/23/2026

🚨 PICTURE THIS: You have FINALLY discovered an incredible human who may have cracked the code on one of the scariest challenges special needs families face, wandering and elopement.

With backing from Clark Atlanta University and others!

👏 Meet Miss Rhonda.

Rhonda is the brains behind LumaID, and she is currently developing a patent-pending Intelligent Safety Patch designed with vulnerable individuals and their caregivers in mind.

LumaID is being designed to go beyond traditional location tracking and if your child is anything like mine, they dont wear ANYTHING. something hard to find and hard to tamper with is amazing.

The goal is for this small wearable patch to help detect things like:
📍 GPS location
🚨 Removal or tampering with the device
⏱️ Extended periods of no movement
💥 Potential falls
🗺️ Geofencing/safe-zone alerts
📲 Real-time notifications to caregivers or guardians

For families of children who elope, individuals with autism or other disabilities, seniors with memory-related conditions, and anyone caring for a vulnerable loved one, the possibilities here are HUGE.

I had the opportunity to speak with Rhonda, and her passion for making this a reality absolutely shows. LumaID is still in the development stages, which means community feedback RIGHT NOW is incredibly important.

👏 PLEASE go follow Luma ID
🌐 Visit their website: lumaidsecure.com
📝 And most importantly, FILL OUT THEIR SURVEY!
https://www.lumaidsecure.com/join-early-access

Every survey helps better understand what families actually need as she continues developing this technology.

LumaID introduces separation-aware human safety technology. A skin-worn device that detects loss of contact and sends emergency notifications when a person cannot self report. Built for licensing, partnerships, and large-scale safety applications. - A Wearable Emergency Notification Device for Human...

08/19/2026

🚨 PROJECT LIFESAVER NOW AVAILABLE IN LAWRENCE COUNTY, PA! 💙

This is a HUGE resource for families and caregivers of individuals who may be at risk of wandering or elopement.

Project Lifesaver is a public-safety program designed to help law enforcement quickly locate individuals who wander due to cognitive or neurological conditions. Participants wear a small transmitter that emits an individualized tracking signal. If the person goes missing, trained local responders can use specialized equipment to help locate them.

📍 HOW TO SIGN UP IN LAWRENCE COUNTY:

Project Lifesaver enrollment is available through the Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office.

📞 Phone: 724-656-9300
📍 Address: 430 Court Street, New Castle, PA 16101

When contacting the office, ask about Project Lifesaver enrollment and they can provide information about eligibility, enrollment, equipment, and next steps.

💗 The NEST Project is incredibly excited to see this resource available locally. Elopement is one of the biggest safety concerns many special-needs families face, and programs like Project Lifesaver can provide an additional safeguard alongside home security measures and an individualized safety plan.

Please SHARE this with local families, caregivers, teachers, therapists, caseworkers, first responders, and agencies. You never know who may need it!

🪺 Nurture • Equip • Support • Thrive

08/16/2026

📣 A LITTLE NEST PROJECT UPDATE! 💗

We’ve recently updated our program applications and volunteer interest form! As The NEST Project continues to grow, we’re learning how to make our process easier to navigate, both for our team and for the families we serve.

We’re also in the process of updating our website to make information and resources easier to find! 😀

We want to take a moment to welcome all of our new followers and thank everyone who continues to support our mission. We’re a small group of parents with lived experience who simply want to make the world a safer, more inclusive and supportive place for children with disabilities and their families.

None of this would be possible without our supporters, the families who trust us and the incredible agencies and organizations we’ve had the honor of working alongside.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you, thank you! 💗

08/14/2026

📰💙 WE MADE THE NEWS!! 💙📰

We are SO excited to share that The NEST Project and our new Home Safety Program were featured in the New Castle News!

Seeing this program receive recognition means so much to us because it helps spread the word to even more families who may need support. Our goal with the Home Safety Program is simple: help make homes safer for children with disabilities, especially those at risk of elopement or other safety concerns.

What started as an idea to fill a very real need in our community is already growing, and we are incredibly grateful for everyone who continues to support, share, donate, and believe in what we're doing. 💙

Take a minute to check out the article and help us spread the word! 🏡✨

"Read our New Castle News here!
https://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/local_news/edinburg-nonprofit-starts-special-needs-home-safety-program/article_ca453510-121b-4803-8849-a3fce4eb73dc.html

An Edinburg nonprofit has started a Home Safety Program for families with special-needs children.

08/14/2026

We helped our first family through our Home Safety Program 💗

Here's what Miss Samantha had to say..

💚 THIS is why we do what we do. 🧩

“Having a child with Level 3 autism and elopement concerns means we have to think about safety in ways that many families may never have to. It meant so much to have an organization understand that and actually step in to help.”

Through our Home Safety Program, we were able to provide Samantha’s family with security cameras, a motion/driveway alarm, a security bulb camera, and an extra-tall safety gate to add additional layers of protection to their home.

But one part of her testimonial especially stuck with us:

«“There wasn’t a long, stressful process of trying to convince someone why our child needed these things. They listened to us and genuinely cared about our child’s individual safety needs.”»

That is EXACTLY what we want The NEST Project to be. 💚

Families raising children with disabilities already spend so much time explaining, advocating, applying, waiting, and fighting to have their children’s needs understood. When a family comes to us, our goal is to listen, understand their individual situation, and help however our resources allow.

Thank you, Samantha, for trusting us with your family and for allowing us to share your beautiful words. Knowing that something we provided can give a parent even a little more peace of mind is exactly why this program exists. 🏡💚

08/14/2026

📢 A GREAT FREE RESOURCE FOR FAMILIES & ADVOCATES!

The Autism Dad created a FREE Rapid Response Kit that makes disability advocacy a whole lot easier.

You can:
📜 Look up state & federal legislation
🏛️ Find your representatives
📧 Get ready-to-use emails, phone scripts & letters
📖 Read the actual bills for yourself

No signup. No cost. Just an easy way to stay informed and make your voice heard.

🔗 theautismdad.com/takeaction

Advocacy can start with something as simple as an email. 💙

A free tool to look up bills in your state or Congress and contact the lawmakers deciding them. No party, no sponsors, no cost.

08/12/2026

💙 IT’S INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY! 💙

Did you know that 1 in 6 children in the United States has a developmental disability?

Today, in honor of International Youth Day, we want to see how much we can raise for the 1 in 6. 💙

At The NEST Project, we support children with disabilities and their families by helping provide adaptive equipment, sensory and communication supports, home safety resources, and other essential needs.

Whether it's $5, $10, $25 or more, every donation helps us reach another child and another family.

🌎 Today, let's show up for the 1 in 6.

DONATE HERE: https://givebutter.com/NESTproject

08/11/2026

📣 CALLING ALL NEST PROJECT FAMILIES! 💙

If The NEST Project has helped your family in any way, we would LOVE to hear from you!

Our Program Feedback Form is completely optional, but we’ve only received a few responses so far, and your feedback is incredibly important to us.

These forms help us document the real impact our programs are making for families in our community. Your responses give us valuable information that we can use when applying for grants, seeking additional funding, improving our programs, and showing supporters exactly why programs like ours are needed.

⭐ Every response helps us tell the story of what The NEST Project is accomplishing, and helps us continue helping the next family who needs us.

Feedback is optional, and we truly appreciate everyone who takes the time to share their experience with us.

📝 Program Feedback Form:
https://form.jotform.com/252637508467062

Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of your family’s journey. 💙

Please click the link to complete this form.

08/10/2026

🏡💙 INTRODUCING THE NEST PROJECT HOME SAFETY PROGRAM! 💙🏡

We are so excited to officially introduce a new way The NEST Project will be supporting families in our community, our Home Safety Program.

For many families raising a child with a disability, keeping their child safe at home can require more than the typical safety measures. Elopement, limited danger awareness, sensory needs, climbing, wandering, and other disability-related behaviors can make certain areas of the home especially challenging to secure.

Through our Home Safety Program, families may request reasonable home safety equipment based on their child’s individual needs and subject to available funding.

Examples may include:
🔹 Door and window alarms
🔹 Specialized locks and latches
🔹 Safety gates and barriers
🔹 Window safety devices
🔹 Cameras or monitoring equipment
🔹 Sensory-related safety equipment & More!

✨️ YOU CAN HELP BY DONATING TO OUR PROGRAMS
- Donations are tax-deductible! https://givebutter.com/NESTproject 👈

As with all of our programs, our goal is simple: help children with disabilities be safer, supported, and able to thrive in their own homes.

Please help us spread the word by sharing this post with families, therapists, teachers, caseworkers, first responders, and anyone else who works with children with disabilities.

Because sometimes one lock, one alarm, or one piece of safety equipment can make an enormous difference. 🏡💙