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Our History

The Church Home Society was founded in 1855 and incorporated in 1858. In 1868 it opened a “new” Church Home for Orphan and Destitute Children in South Boston as an orphanage to provide placements and adoptions of the children. Its services continued and were added to with the opening of a vocational school in 1888. In the early 1900’s, the Society re-examined its work, closing the school and the orphanage, and focused its work on encompassing a broader range of direct services to children, becoming, in the course of this new direction, a founding member of the Child Welfare League of America. In the 1960’s, in response to changes in the child welfare landscape, the Society moved from providing direct services to providing grants to non-profit organizations which serve under-served youth.

Today, The Church Home Society is a non-profit grant-making organization that funds youth-focused programs operating within the geographical boundaries of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts (that portion of Massachusetts that lies east of Worcester County). Our Federal Tax Identification Number is 04-2104001.