Our mission is to provide redemptive, healing services that bring meaningful change to the lives of children and families. Grounded by scripture and the tradition of the church, we seek to bring the wholeness of God’s love to persons through Christ.

The 17- and 18-year-old girls gathered for art therapy in the Studio. Their task tonight was to simply paint how you’re feeling, so Ayana picked up the black paint. Thinking of her three children who were now in foster homes instead of by her side, she swirled the black paint across the bottom half of the page. Dipping her brush in red paint, she drew a stick figure of herself within the blackness. Beside it she wrote “Help me.” Ayana paused and drew a tunnel to the top of the page. Again thinking of her children, she painted a blue sky with clouds. “I feel like I’m at the bottom of a deep hole,” she explained, “but I know there’s a bright future out there, and I now know that I can reach it.”

The United Methodist Children’s Home of the North Georgia Conference is a ministry to hurting children and families. All of our services are aimed at preventing the breakup of families, restoring and healing separated families, or teaching teens and young adults how to create successful and meaningful lives for their own future families. We want all of our youth and families to know they have the power to overcome their past and reach a brighter future.

We invite you to help us send this message of a hopeful future. The Children’s Home is an exciting and important ministry to be a part of:

We serve “the least of these.” UMCH helps families and children who don’t have access to other help. We rarely turn teenagers away from group care; we serve youth that others will not. The people we serve — abused children, troubled teens and struggling families — are often overlooked and underestimated until they come to the Children’s Home. Your support will benefit families who have nowhere else to turn.

Longevity. The United Methodist Children’s Home was founded in 1871. Since then, we have evolved to serve children and families as their needs grow and change. We have endured many challenges, yet we have remained a steadfast source of hope and healing. Your gift will go to a resilient organization with a strong foundation.

Immediacy. We are on the front lines of preserving families and protecting children. Our Whitehead Hall and Kerr Cottage intake centers serve as an emergency shelter for youth who are coming directly from abusive situations. Our family preservation services — Family Counseling, Parenting Classes, Short-term Family Housing and Financial Aid — intercept struggling families before their issues escalate to abuse or neglect. We are often the first place people turn to for help.

Permanency. Our ultimate goal in all our programs is permanency. For a short-term housing family to move into their own apartment. For a foster child to be adopted or return to her family. For a teenager to get the education and job experience he needs to build an independent life. Your support helps children, teens and families build futures in which they stand on their own and create loving homes.

Stewardship. UMCH is an excellent steward of the money we raise. The Children’s Home spends 81 percent of our total expenses on program activities that directly benefit our children and families. This far exceeds the Better Business Bureau’s recommendation of at least 65 percent. The staff would be happy to share our IRS form 990 and other information with you. You can be confident your gift will be used wisely.

We are a ministry. People of faith are called to serve those who are overlooked and forgotten, such as neglected children and strained families. UMCH is a ministry of the United Methodist Church; more importantly, we are YOUR ministry. Jesus says that “whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me” (Matthew 25:40). By supporting our work, you have become God’s hands and feet for God’s people.

The United Methodist Children’s Home invites you to become a part of our ministry. You can find many ways to get involved on these pages, and you can make a secure one-time or recurring donation right here on our website. We hope you’ll support our work.