The Central Dorcas Society was a Wesleyan organisation established at a meeting of over 100 women in 1888. The aims of the Society were ‘to help the poor and look after waifs’. After a name change to the Central Dorcas Association Help and Rescue Society, in 1891 the Society became known as the Wesleyan Church Neglected Children’s Aid Society.
Local Dorcas Societies operated within Wesleyan congregations in Melbourne during the 1880s to provide charity workers with money, clothing and food.
In August 1888, the Central Dorcas Society opened the Temporary House for Destitute Children in Carlton.
From
1888
To
1891
Alternative Names
Central Dorcas Association Help and Rescue Society
Methodist Help and Rescue Mission