Bethany Babies’ Home was originally the Geelong Female Refuge when it was established in 1868. From 1928, the Refuge became known as Bethany Babies’ Home. It accommodated pregnant women, babies and toddlers; it operated a maternity hospital and also adopted babies out. In 1977, it ceased to operating as a Home and adoption agency and…
The Salvation Army Westcare came into being in around 1980. With support from the Department of Community Welfare Services (DCWS), Westcare established residential units for children and young people in the western region of Melbourne. The Salvation Army Westcare ran residential care units for young people until 2018 when the Department of Health and Human…
The Melbourne Orphanage was established in 1926. It was formerly the Melbourne Orphan Asylum. It was located in Brighton where it accommodated boys and girls aged between 3 and 16. By the 1950s, some children were housed in group homes in Glen Waverley. In 1965, it became the Melbourne Family Care Organisation. The Melbourne Orphanage…
The Melbourne City Mission was formed in the mid-1850s, as a result of the efforts of Hester Hornbrook, a philanthropist, and John Singleton, a medical doctor. Hornbrook and Singleton’s vision was for ‘a mission embracing all denominations and unsectarian in its character’ to address the hardship and suffering caused by the social upheaval of the…
The William Booth Girls’ Home, East Camberwell, opened in 1912 and was run by the Salvation Army. It accommodated girls aged between 4 and 14 years old. The first 43 girls in residence at the William Booth Girls’ Home had been transferred there from the Murrumbeena Girls’ Home, which closed in 1912. When the Home…
Abercare Family Services was formed in 1981. Its name reflects its connection with the Aberfeldie Baptist Church. Abercare was a provider in temporary foster care in the western suburbs from the early 1980s. In 2009, Abercare Family Services changed its name and became known as Baptcare’s family services division.
Baptist Children’s Homes were a number of family group homes run by Baptcare (formerly known as the Baptist Social Services, and Baptist Community Care) from around 1968 until around 1984. Baptist Community Care (also known as Baptist Social Services) ran 3 family group homes in Melbourne. Westside Children’s Home in a large house in Park…
Baptcare (formerly known as Baptist Community Care) traces its origins back to 1945, when the Victorian Baptist Women’s Association’s fundraising efforts led to the establishment of Strathalan Community, an aged care facility in Macleod. Baptist Community Care became Baptcare in 2006. Baptist Community Care ran Abercare Family Services, which was a temporary care program operating…
The Daughters of Divine Zeal are an international Italian order of Catholic nuns. The Sisters arrived in Richmond, Victoria in 1959 to the parish of St Ignatius, to do apostolic work with Melbourne’s Italian migrants. They ran the Antonian Children’s Home in Richmond from 1959 until it closed in 1979. In 1980 it was converted…
The Ballarat Town and City Mission was founded in 1867. The Ballarat Town and City Mission ran a number of Homes for children and babies, including, from around 1921 until 1974, the Alexandra Babies’ Home. Some records of the Mission and its charitable institutions are held by the Central Highlands Regional Library Corporation. In 1921,…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
