FWBCH: Over a Century of Building Futures

Scared and heartbroken, the three siblings arrived at the Children’s Home.  Their mom hadn’t been able to adequately provide for them after their father left.  The oldest sister was thrust into the role of parent when mom started disappearing for days at a time.  Food was scarce, and school fell by the wayside while the siblings struggled to survive, mostly on their own. 

When they arrived at the Children’s Home, all that began to change, they now had three meals a day with more food than they could eat – hunger was no longer a worry.  The siblings were surrounded by cottage parents and a whole support system of people who loved and cared for them.  They began to trust the adults in their lives and became optimistic about their future.  The Children’s Home provided them with so much more than food and shelter – it was a place of hope and home.  They began to rewrite the story of their lives.  No longer were they destined to live out a meager existence; they now had the opportunity to take their beginnings and write a positive chapter to their story.

The story of these three siblings is one that spans the 105-year existence of the Free Will Baptist Children’s Home.  From 1920 to now, our children have come to us from places of anxiety and despair.  They have faced a tremendous upheaval in their lives, and they aren’t quite sure what will happen next.  Oftentimes they are scared and reluctant to open up because they’ve been disappointed so many times.  We help them learn to trust others and to believe in themselves.  The Children’s Home strives to help our young people rewrite their life story, to turn the trauma of their past into building blocks for their future.