CHILDREN'S HOME DOORS FIRST OPENED APRIL 10, 1899

A Century of Strengthening and Bringing Children and their Families Together

As early as 1889, the need to provide a refuge for homeless children was paramount throughout Central Maine, but it wasn't until April 10, l899, that the Kennebec Valley Home for Children open its doors in Augusta, Maine. The mission at that time was to open the doors to homeless children from almshouses in Gardiner and Madison, and to provide children of unwed mothers and widowed fathers, who could not care for their offspring, a chance for a new life in an adoptive family. In some instances, children came to the orphanage while parents got on their feet after a catastrophe.

The first year's budget was $1,049, which fed, clothed and housed 28 children. On August 15, 1901, the Home was incorporated with a new name - The Maine Children's Home Society. Their mission was "to provide suitable family homes in Maine, or elsewhere, for homeless and dependent children of the State of Maine, and to have, hold, control and manage a suitable temporary home for such children, and for children whose relatives are unable to personally care for them until family homes could be provided for such children."

The Maine Children's Society housed children until it closed the Sewall Street facility in 1915. Children were then placed in boarding homes or in free homes, and the Society continued to offer support to children in other agencies, in addition to the boarding homes. The office was relocated to Water in Augusta.

In the early 1900s, the New England Home for Little Wanderers, with headquarters in Boston, spread into other New England states. Similar in services offered by The Maine Children's Home Society, there was an ample number of children that needed the safety net that these organizations provided. The Waterville branch of the New England Home opened in 1907 in an office building on Main Street. The Agency moved to new quarters in the early 50s.

On July 25, 1962, a merger of two of the state's oldest children's' agencies, the New England Home for Little Wanderers Maine Branch in Waterville and the Maine Children's Home Society in Augusta was announced. It was determined that the primary branch of the Agency would remain in Waterville; a smaller branch would be maintained in Augusta. The present day Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers came into being. Early programs included foster care for youngsters deprived of their own homes, counseling for the disturbed child, diagnostic study, case work with the unmarried parent, an adoption program and summer camp scholarships. During that period, the adoption program was flourishing (32 children being placed annually) as well as foster care and a new program of working with young boys was initiated. In the early 70s, with expanding programs requiring new quarters, the Maine Children's Home moved to its new home at 34 Gilman Street. The Augusta branch moved from its crowded State Street offices to 11 Mulliken Court, a remodeled home providing ample space to deliver services to hundreds of clients.

In 2001, the Maine Children's Home launched it's first Capital Campaign in 100 years. Through the financial support of Harold and Bibby Alfond, the Maine Children's Home purchased and retrofitted the former Criminal Justice Academy located at 93 Silver Street in Waterville. With the addition of this campus, the Home was able to expand current programs to meet community needs.

The Maine Children's Home has become a multi-faceted organization that has grown to meet the needs of today's children and families with a corresponding increase of staff. In addition to the original adoption and foster care programs, today's services include a Teen Parent School Program for pregnant and parenting teens, a comprehensive childcare center open to the general public, an outpatient mental health counseling center at our Augusta and Waterville locations, support groups, community education, a Christmas program and summer camp program. Our Community resource building is open to the public for off-site meetings and our volunteer chapters of Friends, who spread the good work of our agency, are growing in numbers.
Strengthening children and families is what the Maine Children's Home is all about.

For more information please contact us at administration@mainechildrenshome.org