Porter-Leath
Encyclopedia
Porter-Leath, also known as the Children's Bureau, is a non-profit organization based in Memphis, Tennessee that serves children and families in the area. Porter-Leath was founded in 1850 as an orphanage and has since grown to six program service areas. The agency retains the early nature of its mission by providing foster care and has also expanded to early childhood education.
The agency remains in its 1852 location on the 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) of land donated by Mrs. Sarah Leath. The original orphanage building remains in use as administrative office space. The three buildings built before 1900 are on the National Register of Historic Places. Porter-Leath has program off-site program locations including Head Start facilities on American Way and in the Douglass neighborhood, as well as CareerPlace in Whitehaven.
Porter-Leath's mission statement is empowering children and families to achieve a healthy, optimal and independent lifestyle. Porter-Leath is a United Way of the Mid-South partner agency and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The name Porter-Leath is a derivative of past names Porter Home and Leath Orphanage.
s existed in Memphis
, Shelby County, Tennessee
. As a matter of fact, there were very few such institutions in the United States
at that time. The fate of orphans in Memphis and elsewhere in those days was bleak. Unless relatives or friends took them in, such children were committed to the county poorhouse
or permitted to run loose in the community. Because no provision was made for destitute widow
s, their lot was also in question. Life in Memphis during this time was not far from the world Charles Dickens
described in Oliver Twist
.
In 1850, the same year that the towns of Memphis and South Memphis
merged to make the City of Memphis, a group of concerned Memphians including Mrs. Sarah Leath, Lyttleton Henderson, Mrs. Margaret Doyle and Mr. and Mrs. John Craft met at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
and organized the Protestant Widows’ and Orphans’ Asylum. Judge Pettit served as the first president of the Asylum’s Board of Trustees. An outpouring of public support helped ensure a state charter for Memphis’ first institution for the care of the destitute in 1851. The Asylum was incorporated the following year.
, homemade quilt
s, a wood-burning cook stove
and other equipment to the Orphanage
. The City’s oldest organized asylum was first located on Exchange Street between Second and Third Streets (across from both the First Methodist and First Presbyterian Churches), and then on Poplar Avenue near Third Street (fronting the First Presbyterian Church). Among the most active contributors was Sarah Murphy Leath, who also served as a member of the Ladies Board of the Asylum. Mrs. Leath, a wealthy Memphis woman and member of First Presbyterian Church, had shown concern for the plight of orphans in the community. Herself a widow and mother of two sons of her own, Mrs. Leath had on three occasions taken orphans into her home.
By 1854, the little Orphanage had outgrown its crowded downtown
quarters. Wishing to provide the Asylum with a larger facility and a permanent location, Sarah Leath donated 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) of land one mile (1.6 km) northeast of the City north of New Raleigh Road (later renamed Jackson Avenue) and east of Boundary Road (later renamed Manassas Street). Money for the original small brick building was provided largely by public subscription from the citizenry. A two-story brick building (now the Shainberg Room) was completed on June 4, 1856, and became home to fourteen children; seven boys and seven girls. There was also a clapboard
shotgun-styled building on the 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) plot that was used as the school for the children.
of the Asylum, the name of the organization was changed from the Protestant Widows’ and Orphans’ Asylum to the Leath Orphan Asylum by an Act of the 1857 and 1858 Tennessee Legislature . In addition to the Asylum’s new name, a new organizational structure
was adopted. A Board of Trustees made up of seven prominent men was appointed, but the day-to-day supervision of the Home remained with the twelve-member “Board of Lady Managers”. These ladies of Memphis’ Protestant churches paid the salary of the Asylum’s matron
.
for the children of the pastor
of First Presbyterian Church and after visiting in the home of James T. Leath, the son of Sarah Murphy Leath, for an extended time, was offered and accepted the position of the first matron of the Orphanage. Miss Ward, who manifested a real mother’s love for the children in her care, remained as matron of the Orphanage for seventeen years. During Miss Ward’s employment, whenever a girl entered the Orphanage, a hope chest
was started for her future dowry
and into each chest went a quilt and other articles as available.
defeated the Confederate naval forces in the Battle of Memphis
and Union/Yankee troops occupied Memphis. In 1863 General Ulysses S. Grant
designated the City of Memphis as the Union Army’s Hospital and Supply Base to support his planned attack on the City of Vicksburg
. However, none of these supplies were of benefit to the citizens of Memphis or the children at the Orphanage. Also, as a result of the war, the City’s churchwomen could no longer contribute to the Home’s support or pay Miss Ward’s salary
.
Nonetheless, Miss Ward stuck to her post and provided for the children by what she could raise on the Orphanage’s twenty-nine acres of land. During this period, the Orphanage had to endure the confiscation
of their poultry
and most of their livestock and finally foraging Yankee soldiers took the last one of the Orphanage’s milk cows. Furious at this outrageous act, Miss Ward rode to the Union military headquarters [either at what is now known as the Hunt-Phelan House on Beale Street or the Gayoso Hotel on the river bluff] in Memphis and proclaimed to the Yankee commander, “I do not propose that my children shall go without milk. I am coming back here until our cow is returned, or another cow given us." Eventually, even the Yankee Army gave in and Miss Ward got her cow.
epidemics. Beginning in 1873 and continuing through 1879, the deadly fever killed more than 8,000 Memphis citizens [at least 2,000 in 1873; more than 5,200 in 1878; and 500 plus in 1879] and, by the late 1870s, resulted in closure of the town’s businesses when more than half of the population left the City. At one point, Memphis was in debt Six Million Dollars. Due to this overwhelming economic burden, the City declared bankruptcy
and its government was abandoned and Memphis lost its City Charter in 1879 becoming only a “taxing district of the state.” It should be noted that founder Dr. David T. Porter became the President of the “taxing district” of Shelby County which is the equivalent to the office of Mayor
.
s of the 1870s, the Orphanage’s attendants and children suffered heavily as did the rest of the City’s population. Many Memphis children were orphaned by this epidemic and so great did the need increase in the years just after the plague, that the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
expressed an interest in enlarging the facilities of the Leath Orphan Asylum. In 1875, the Odd Fellows of Memphis organized a national subscription of funds to erect a large and impressive three-story brick building. This structure, completed in April 1876, originally was called the Odd Fellow’s Wing. Eventually, it became the Asylum’s main building and is now used for general administration and visitor purposes and is one of several buildings on the Porter-Leath campus listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
s and plumbing
.
On March 16, 1900, the Leath Orphan Asylum and Children’s Home for Orphan and Destitute Children published its Constitution and By-Laws, listing their Trustees (W.W. Schoolfield, James K. Porter, J. S. Dunscomb, Judge J. R. Flippin, W. J. Chase, P. McIntyre and P.R. Friedel), their Honorary Members, Officers and Board Managers, along with the their former Presidents (Mrs. Marge Doyle, Mrs. Joseph Bruce, Mrs. Nina D. Martin, Mrs. A. F. Davis, Mrs. B. F. Haller, Mrs. Joseph Bruce, Mrs. Annie B. Stewart, and Mrs. L.E. Boswell). This publication also set forth the “Rules” of the institution and its visitation policy.
to the Orphanage. Her Will probated on January 22, 1903, set forth “… the remainder of my estate of every kind, character … I give, bequeath and devise to J.M. Dockeny, Elica H. Porter, John Quenton, John W. Dillard and Thos. B. Turley, as trustees – and to their successors in trust, … I direct that this fund shall be used … for the care and maintenance of orphans … whether orphaned by the death of one or both parents….”
In 1904, in recognition of her generosity and the services of her late brother, the Home’s name was changed to the Porter Home and Leath Orphan Asylum. Some years later, the name was shortened to the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage.
In 1912 the northern and southern areas of Memphis, Western Tennessee
, Eastern Arkansas
, Southeastern Missouri
and Northern Mississippi
were all devastated by Mississippi River
flooding and the resulting backup of rivers and bayou
canals in all of these areas. This flood, like all later great Mississippi River flood
s, brought many destitute and homeless families and orphans to the high bluff areas of Memphis.
In 1919 the Porter Home and Leath Orphan Asylum published its Annual Report which included a “current” photograph
of the main three-story building with its North Annex and a printed invitation stating “Visitors are welcome at the Home every Thursday afternoon.”
, was built. This one-story brick building adjoined the north side of the original building and served as a hospital for some twenty-three years before closing in 1946. It was reopened in 1953 as a dormitory
, then closed again, and is now currently used as administrative offices for various PLCC programs.
for children in New York for railroad magnate Mr. Edwin Gould
, son of the famous Jay Gould
. While passing through Memphis that same year, Mr. Gould visited with “warm friend” Ms. Robinson and toured the institution and was impressed by its work. After showering the children with a taxi-load of toys, Gould decided to donate $50,000 to the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage. This generous gift made possible the establishment of a building for older girls. Gould Cottage, as it was named, was completed and dedicated in 1929 and fully and artfully described in newspaper
articles and pictures published at its dedication. During his lifetime, Edwin Gould continued to send the Orphanage sums of money annually for the upkeep of the building and assisted in the improvement the institution’s other property.
, supplied each child with monthly spending money, gave an annual summer Watermelon
Party and an Easter Egg Hunt, and presented a gift to each child on his\her birthday
, as well as provided the traditional tree and entertainment for the Christmas Eve
Party. The old Minute Books and other records of the Orphanage reveal a “Spirit of Exchange” which was woven into the very fabric of the home’s history.
. By the late 1920s, the combined efforts of the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage and the Children's Bureau
would better meet the needs of children in Memphis and Shelby County.
took a heavy toll on local families and children. Due to the economic panic, home life for children was often anything but stable. Some mothers and fathers simply deserted their families rather than face the prospect of not being able to feed and clothe their children. Although federal money was appropriated for emergency assistance, none of it went to private agencies. Instead, any assistance had to come from private sector
donations. The federal government provided milk and cod-liver oil for undernourished children in schools, but conditions in privately funded children's home
s were in a social upheaval. Even though the Depression years were difficult financially for private organizations dedicated to helping children, institutions like the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage continued diligently in their efforts.
Another incident that caused the Home population to increase was the “great floods of 1937”, which devastated a huge area surrounding Memphis, and thousands of homeless families were brought into Memphis.
As a matter of fact, struggles during the Depression and the great flood helped bring like-minded organizations closer together. For example, Mrs. E.G. Riddick, who was Director of the Children’s Bureau in 1938, also served on the Board of the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage.
the institution made a wartime contribution by assuming the care of seventeen Memphis youngsters whose parents were unable to care for them because of war-related duties and obligations. The fathers of some of these children were serving in the armed forces
while some of the mothers were employed as war plant workers.
At that time, the institution was in general disorder and disrepair and had experienced trouble finding a director and sufficient funding. In October 1951, Paul J. Sawrie and his wife agreed to run the Orphanage for thirty days until a permanent director could be found. They served in their “temporary” capacities for the next fifteen years. During that time, under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Sawrie, the Home underwent a number of positive changes and improvements.
Also during this period of time the Orphanage children attended Memphis Public Schools with several of the PLH children attending Humes School two blocks south of the Orphanage on North Manassas and also referred to by many Memphians as “Elvis Presley
’s school”. Several of the neighborhood children attending school with the PLH children came from impoverished homes. Quite often some of these children would come home with the PLH children after school. These guests were allowed to stay for supper
, play in a peaceful and safe environment and often stayed over on weekends affording them access to an environment not enjoyed in their own homes.
was closed. As a result, the Home only cared for children of school age. The nursery, originally constructed to care for infant
s, began to accommodate children six and seven years of age.
Other important improvements made at the Porter-Leath Home included: the installation of additional lighting, new restrooms, and a new waste system. Also during this time period, the Exchange Club assisted the Home in providing a new library
for the children.
In 1953, the Home began the successful operation of “cottage type” child care. The buildings were divided into six departments, each with twelve children, a housemother and complete living accommodations. Each unit had a television
, study tables and comfortable, attractive furniture. According to the Home’s director Paul Sawrie, the transition to the small-group method of child-care stressed individual attention. In evaluating this new type of child-care, the Tennessee Department of Public Welfare declared that Porter-Leath Home had “desirable standards” - a degree higher than “minimum standards.” As a result of this proclamation, the Home no longer was required to undergo routine examinations under the new standard rules.
-type” or small-group system instituted by the Home in the 1950s was well suited to provide individual care and attention to children in such distress.
for older boys. This was the first group home in the community and was provided through the help of the Optimist Group Foundation.
In the 1960s, both Porter-Leath Home and Children’s Bureau were agencies supported by Shelby United Neighbors (S.U.N.). While the Children’s Bureau placed children with foster families and provided casework for children in the home, Porter-Leath Home provided institutional care for children. In addition to receiving funding from S.U.N., Porter-Leath Home had an endowment fund. Interest from this fund, and a small amount of money collected from the families of the children, supplemented the funds allocated by S.U.N. Approximately one-third of the yearly budget
set up for operational expenses came from the Home’s own resources.
and up-grade of their physical plant including: a remodeling of the inside of the old laundry
building (which was situated east of the main building) into an up-to-date meeting hall for parents visiting children and the installation of a three-chair barber
shop, a scout workroom, and modern restrooms for girls and boys. There was a black-topped parking area installed on the east side of the Annex Building as well as a smooth, black-topped basketball
court. The athletic field was rearranged and re-graded with the assistance of the Public Works Department and the Memphis Park Commission. The playground equipment was rearranged and placed in a larger area of open ground and new swings were installed, also with the help of the Memphis Park Commission. During these improvements, the final appointments and decorations were furnished by the Exchange Club.
service to supplement its small-group system of child-care. In October 1960, a cooperative organizational plan was proposed between the two agencies. By 1961, the Consolidation Project, a promotion of S.U.N., outlined a merger between Porter-Leath and the Children’s Bureau.
As a result, a Porter-Leath-Children’s Bureau Consolidation Committee was formed. Meetings and discussions in regard to consolidation lasted for almost a year, until Porter-Leath’s Board of Trustees finally withdrew from the idea. This action on the part of the Trustees was followed in the succeeding months by criticisms and pressures which finally resulted in Porter-Leath Home and Children’s Bureau being brought together under a trial period of actual work in the Home which continued for some nine months. This working arrangement, however, did not coordinate with Porter-Leath’s established routine and was discontinued in June 1963. For the next few years, Porter-Leath Home did not become affiliated with the Children’s Bureau. Although the Home’s Director, its Boards of Trustees and managers realized the necessity to modernize its child-care efforts, they wanted to do so with minimal changes to Porter-Leath’s traditional customs.
(AFDC), veteran’s benefits, foster homes and Social Security
benefits, had limited the need for institutions serving dependent and neglected
children. The Department determined, with professional casework and the utilization of other programs for children and families, many children could remain in their own homes. This service could best be accomplished by professional caseworkers working together with children, their parents and other community resources.
Apparently, the State’s recommendations, the changing climate of child-care and the home’s difficulty conforming to Federal Standards for a modern child-care agency convinced the administrators of Porter-Leath Home to reconsider the cooperative affiliation with Children’s Bureau. This endeavor resulted in the Porter-Leath Home consolidating its services with the Children’s Bureau effective November 20, 1969. When these two agencies merged, their combined efforts became known as the Porter-Leath Children’s Center. The goal of this merger was to provide comprehensive child welfare
services for children and their families. According to the president of the Children’s Bureau, this consolidation was one of the greatest steps ever taken in Memphis toward providing treatment for children with emotional problems as well as dependent and neglected children.
in a person’s home) that cared for the children of working parents in a family setting in their home neighborhoods. Through this program, nutritious hot meals are served to children at the homes and social services are provided by trained social workers to the families.
PORTER-LEATH CHILDREN’S CENTER
An orphan asylum founded by Sara Leath was chartered in 1850 and moved to this site in 1856. After surviving the hardships of the Civil War
years, the orphanage endured the scourge of the 1870s yellow fever epidemics. Since many children were orphaned during this period, additional capacity was needed. Responding to this crisis, in 1875 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows provided funds to erect another building. In 1904 the name Porter was added in recognition of the generosity of the Porter family. Porter-Leath continued to be an orphanage until 1969 when it became a multi-service agency to serve more children in need.
to begin on-site services at Northside High School. The Health Department opened a school-based health clinic and Porter-Leath opened an on-site infant care center. The center offered childcare for Northside students enabling teen parents to continue their educations. The center also offered individual and group parenting
classes. Students were required to volunteer a minimum of one hour per week and to pick their children up after school unless participating in a school-sanctioned event.
Once established, it was expected that the infant care center would be sustained with state funding. State Title XX funds were allocated to the Northside Infant Care Center until 1997, when the State began the current voucher
system which allows parents to choose any child care center. Given the choice of Northside Infant Care, where the teen’s participation was required and other centers with no such requirement or regulations, many teens began to choose alternative childcare locations. As enrollment dropped, the Northside Infant Care Center became fiscally unviable and closed its doors at the end of the 1997 school year.
for youth in custody. The Employment Training for Teens Program at PLCC began in 1987 as the Tutor-Mentor Program. The program began with only twelve youth and evolved over the years to serve over fifty youth per year with more than twenty work sites throughout the City of Memphis at its peak.
In addition to the services provided by Porter-Leath’s Employment Training Program, in 1996 the After Care Project was implemented to assist youth who have been emancipated from custody. These services were provided to prevent future unemployment
, transient street lifestyles and homelessness
. The support provided through Employment Training for Teens and the After Care Project gave youth the tools needed to become self-sufficient, productive and independent. Due to funding cuts within the State of Tennessee, this successful program was closed in 2003.
PLCC’s Independent Living Program began in 1987 within a residential home on Cooper Street. The program placed young men (ages 16–20) who lacked a proper adult role model
, in group homes where house parents would teach them self-sufficiency
and living skills focused on ensuring their ability to function successfully upon release from foster care at the age of majority. In late May 2000, the Independent Living program moved into a totally renovated and updated large four-square brick home on the southwest corner of North Parkway and Dunlap. Not only did PLCC restore the usefulness of this structure and aid in the renewal of this area of the community, but also gave the young men at Independent Living a much larger, totally updated and healthy environment for growth. Unfortunately, funding for independent living
programs were discontinued at the state level and this facility was closed in 2004.
began exploring the idea of bringing the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) to Memphis. PLCC was approached to implement the program and the search began for funding.
In 1995 PLCC received an AmeriCorps
grant to begin the HIPPY program, with matching funds from Goals 2000. HIPPY is a home-based literacy
program delivered by AmeriCorps paraprofessionals designed to help parents become their child’s first teacher.
In recognition of the need for earlier and more comprehensive intervention with families, the program began using the Maternal/Infant Health Outreach Worker Project (MIHOW) curriculum
in 1998 thus expanding services to include pregnant women and families with children birth to five years of age. Due to this expanded focus, the name of the program was changed to Early Intervention in 1999.
campaign with the special efforts of Nancy Chase, PaLs, the Trustees, the Board of Directors and staff a new, state-of-the-art shelter facility, named Sarah’s Place (in honor of Sarah Leath) was opened to provide emergency care for neglected or abused
children. Sarah’s Place is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Trained child-care workers, supervised by a professional social worker, provide a safe, secure environment for children in distress until permanent plans can be made for the child.
In May 2000, the Early Head Start Center, a state-of-the-art facility and the first of its kind in West Tennessee
, was completed on the north end of the PLCC campus. In June 2000 Early Head Start began offering a combination of home-based and center-based Early Head Start services. In March 2001, PLCC received an expansion grant for Early Head Start to increase its number of children in the program to 95 and entered into a contract with Metropolitan Inter Faith Association (MIFA) to operate an Early Head Start center for 27 children at its Les Passees Center. In September 2005, MIFA requested and PLCC agreed to take over operations of its Early Head Start program. In June 2006, the Early Head Start Center received accreditation
for the National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC). NAEYC accreditation is the highest level of accreditation that a child care program can attain.
In the fall of 1998, PLCC was invited to join a collaborative effort to plan an overall strategy for ensuring that all children of Memphis have the opportunity to experience optimal development during their preschool years. The resulting plan was submitted to United Way of America in an application for Success by Six funding. In 1999, United Way of the Mid-South received funding through Success by Six for one staff position to provide training, technical assistance and financial support to child care centers. This funding was passed through PLCC and the United for Children program was begun. United for Children ended in 2000 when PLCC did not receive adequate funding
to sustain the program.
volunteers who cleaned, repaired and installed iron fencing and massive landscaping improvements with a value of $120,000. As a result of this and other on-going campus improvements, the Agency participated in the Memphis City Beautiful Program for 1998-99. New lighting was installed and a tree trimming/maintenance program began in 1998. The deteriorated Gould Cottage was completely rehabilitated and reopened as the Adoption Resources Cottage in 2001. In 2002 the long-dormant and uninhabitable South Annex building was renovated using a Housing and Community Development Grant and brought a new walking track to the campus. A gazebo
and walking paths were added in 2003.
; implementing improvement teams to evaluate key processes; and strategic planning. The Agency’s quality efforts have been recognized by the Greater Memphis Award for Quality for Level I in 1999 and Level II in 2000. PLCC received the State of Tennessee Level II Quality Award and the prestigious Horizon Award from the Grant Center in 2002. In 2004, PLCC was recognized with the Level III quality award from GMAQ along with the prestigious Pyramid of Excellence award. Earning the Pyramid award put the Agency in the company of “for-profit” Pyramid winners such as FedEx
and Smith and Nephew. Porter-Leath was first accredited by the Council on Accreditation in 1996 and was reaccredited in 1999 and 2002.
A donation from a local web developing team led to the Agency’s first ever website in June 2001.
American Way Head Start opened as PLCC’s second Head Start center and began serving 238 children aged three to five in November 2002. This 22000 square feet (2,043.9 m²) facility located at 4207 American Way was completely renovated under the Agency’s direction. Fund raising provided all of the furniture, fixtures and equipment for the modern center. The program serves 238 children during the Head Start school year and 100 of those children year-round. American Way Head Start earned accreditation by NAEYC in June 2006.
January 2005 brought about strategic changes to the executive staff and board of directors. Both were transformed into a more corporate style to enhance the long-term capacity of the Agency.
in Shelby County. The ultimate goal of the program is to display appealing pictures in public areas such as churches, banks, etc. to bring awareness to adoption and to recruit new adoptive families. The Gallery is a partnership with the TN Department of Children’s Services and other adoption agencies located throughout Shelby County.
education through a well-balanced and varied diet. PLCC saw a need for such a program in its day care department and became a Program sponsor of family day homes in 1980.
The group-home program is closely allied with foster care. The foster care program at the Agency provides care for abused and neglected children. Counseling by professionally trained social workers is available to each child served in the program. In addition to providing short-term care, Porter-Leath seeks permanent placements for children eligible for adoption. The adoption program recruits families to provide permanent homes for infants and youths. In the late 1980s, the Agency realized there were not enough homes for minority children and began an adoption program aimed at placing these and other “hard to place” children. For young pregnant women, Porter-Leath offered a variety of social services as well as referrals for medical and extended services.
Cornerstone administers in-home visits utilizing AmeriCorps members as home visitors to at-risk pregnant women in Shelby County, which has the highest infant mortality rate in the nation. This program has multiple successes - over 92% of low-income pregnant women in the program have healthy birth weight babies, which is the leading factor in preventing infant mortality.
The agency remains in its 1852 location on the 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) of land donated by Mrs. Sarah Leath. The original orphanage building remains in use as administrative office space. The three buildings built before 1900 are on the National Register of Historic Places. Porter-Leath has program off-site program locations including Head Start facilities on American Way and in the Douglass neighborhood, as well as CareerPlace in Whitehaven.
Porter-Leath's mission statement is empowering children and families to achieve a healthy, optimal and independent lifestyle. Porter-Leath is a United Way of the Mid-South partner agency and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The name Porter-Leath is a derivative of past names Porter Home and Leath Orphanage.
Early history
Prior to 1850, no organized asylum for orphanOrphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
s existed in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...
. As a matter of fact, there were very few such institutions in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at that time. The fate of orphans in Memphis and elsewhere in those days was bleak. Unless relatives or friends took them in, such children were committed to the county poorhouse
Poorhouse
A poorhouse or workhouse was a government-run facility in the past for the support and housing of dependent or needy persons, typically run by a local government entity such as a county or municipality....
or permitted to run loose in the community. Because no provision was made for destitute widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
s, their lot was also in question. Life in Memphis during this time was not far from the world Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
described in Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
.
In 1850, the same year that the towns of Memphis and South Memphis
South Memphis, Memphis
South Memphis, one of the oldest portions of Memphis, Tennessee, is a vast community stretching from downtown to the Mississippi state line. In its early days, it was primarily an agrarian community...
merged to make the City of Memphis, a group of concerned Memphians including Mrs. Sarah Leath, Lyttleton Henderson, Mrs. Margaret Doyle and Mr. and Mrs. John Craft met at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Christian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. In 2007, it had an active membership of less than 50,000 and about 800 congregations, the majority of which are concentrated in the United States...
and organized the Protestant Widows’ and Orphans’ Asylum. Judge Pettit served as the first president of the Asylum’s Board of Trustees. An outpouring of public support helped ensure a state charter for Memphis’ first institution for the care of the destitute in 1851. The Asylum was incorporated the following year.
The First Orphans Asylum
Generous Memphis women donated spare furnitureFurniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
, homemade quilt
Quilt
A quilt is a type of bed cover, traditionally composed of three layers of fiber: a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding and a woven back, combined using the technique of quilting. “Quilting” refers to the technique of joining at least two fabric layers by stitches or ties...
s, a wood-burning cook stove
Wood-burning stove
For a list of stove types see Stove .A wood-burning stove is a heating appliance capable of burning wood fuel and wood-derived biomass fuel. Generally the appliance consists of a solid metal closed fire chamber, a grate and an adjustable air control...
and other equipment to the Orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
. The City’s oldest organized asylum was first located on Exchange Street between Second and Third Streets (across from both the First Methodist and First Presbyterian Churches), and then on Poplar Avenue near Third Street (fronting the First Presbyterian Church). Among the most active contributors was Sarah Murphy Leath, who also served as a member of the Ladies Board of the Asylum. Mrs. Leath, a wealthy Memphis woman and member of First Presbyterian Church, had shown concern for the plight of orphans in the community. Herself a widow and mother of two sons of her own, Mrs. Leath had on three occasions taken orphans into her home.
By 1854, the little Orphanage had outgrown its crowded downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
quarters. Wishing to provide the Asylum with a larger facility and a permanent location, Sarah Leath donated 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) of land one mile (1.6 km) northeast of the City north of New Raleigh Road (later renamed Jackson Avenue) and east of Boundary Road (later renamed Manassas Street). Money for the original small brick building was provided largely by public subscription from the citizenry. A two-story brick building (now the Shainberg Room) was completed on June 4, 1856, and became home to fourteen children; seven boys and seven girls. There was also a clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
shotgun-styled building on the 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) plot that was used as the school for the children.
Leath Orphan Asylum
Upon Mrs. Leath’s death in 1858, her Estate provided the orphanage with twenty additional acres of land and money to start an Orphan’s Educational Fund. In honor and recognition of Mrs. Leath’s contributions to the welfareWelfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
of the Asylum, the name of the organization was changed from the Protestant Widows’ and Orphans’ Asylum to the Leath Orphan Asylum by an Act of the 1857 and 1858 Tennessee Legislature . In addition to the Asylum’s new name, a new organizational structure
Organizational structure
An organizational structure consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its...
was adopted. A Board of Trustees made up of seven prominent men was appointed, but the day-to-day supervision of the Home remained with the twelve-member “Board of Lady Managers”. These ladies of Memphis’ Protestant churches paid the salary of the Asylum’s matron
Matron
Matron is the job title of a very senior nurse in several countries, including the United Kingdom, its former colonies, including the Republic of Ireland, although the title Clinical Nurse Manager has become acceptable as an alternative.-History:...
.
Jane Ward –Matron of Leath Orphan Asylum
Because of her significant gift to the Orphanage and her active role as a member of the Ladies Board (forerunner of the Board of Lady Managers), Mrs. Leath was permitted to choose the Asylum’s new matron in 1856. The choice proved a wise one. Miss Jane Ward had come to Memphis as governessGoverness
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
for the children of the pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
of First Presbyterian Church and after visiting in the home of James T. Leath, the son of Sarah Murphy Leath, for an extended time, was offered and accepted the position of the first matron of the Orphanage. Miss Ward, who manifested a real mother’s love for the children in her care, remained as matron of the Orphanage for seventeen years. During Miss Ward’s employment, whenever a girl entered the Orphanage, a hope chest
Hope chest
A hope chest, dowry chest, cedar chest, or glory box is a chest used to collect items such as clothing and household linen, by unmarried young women in anticipation of married life....
was started for her future dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
and into each chest went a quilt and other articles as available.
The Civil War
On June 6, 1862, the Union fleetUnion Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
defeated the Confederate naval forces in the Battle of Memphis
Battle of Memphis
The First Battle of Memphis was a naval battle fought on the Mississippi River immediately above the city of Memphis on June 6, 1862, during the American Civil War. The engagement was witnessed by many of the citizens of Memphis. It resulted in a crushing defeat for the Rebels, and marked the...
and Union/Yankee troops occupied Memphis. In 1863 General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
designated the City of Memphis as the Union Army’s Hospital and Supply Base to support his planned attack on the City of Vicksburg
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
. However, none of these supplies were of benefit to the citizens of Memphis or the children at the Orphanage. Also, as a result of the war, the City’s churchwomen could no longer contribute to the Home’s support or pay Miss Ward’s salary
Salary
A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis....
.
Nonetheless, Miss Ward stuck to her post and provided for the children by what she could raise on the Orphanage’s twenty-nine acres of land. During this period, the Orphanage had to endure the confiscation
Confiscation
Confiscation, from the Latin confiscatio 'joining to the fiscus, i.e. transfer to the treasury' is a legal seizure without compensation by a government or other public authority...
of their poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
and most of their livestock and finally foraging Yankee soldiers took the last one of the Orphanage’s milk cows. Furious at this outrageous act, Miss Ward rode to the Union military headquarters [either at what is now known as the Hunt-Phelan House on Beale Street or the Gayoso Hotel on the river bluff] in Memphis and proclaimed to the Yankee commander, “I do not propose that my children shall go without milk. I am coming back here until our cow is returned, or another cow given us." Eventually, even the Yankee Army gave in and Miss Ward got her cow.
The Yellow Fever Epidemic
After the war ended in 1865, Memphis soon became the fastest-growing city in the United States and in 1867 regained its designation as the “county seat”. Along with this growth, however, came challenges. One of the most devastating was a series of yellow feverYellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemics. Beginning in 1873 and continuing through 1879, the deadly fever killed more than 8,000 Memphis citizens [at least 2,000 in 1873; more than 5,200 in 1878; and 500 plus in 1879] and, by the late 1870s, resulted in closure of the town’s businesses when more than half of the population left the City. At one point, Memphis was in debt Six Million Dollars. Due to this overwhelming economic burden, the City declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and its government was abandoned and Memphis lost its City Charter in 1879 becoming only a “taxing district of the state.” It should be noted that founder Dr. David T. Porter became the President of the “taxing district” of Shelby County which is the equivalent to the office of Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
.
The Asylum Grows Again with the help of the Odd Fellows
During the terrible yellow fever epidemicEpidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
s of the 1870s, the Orphanage’s attendants and children suffered heavily as did the rest of the City’s population. Many Memphis children were orphaned by this epidemic and so great did the need increase in the years just after the plague, that the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
expressed an interest in enlarging the facilities of the Leath Orphan Asylum. In 1875, the Odd Fellows of Memphis organized a national subscription of funds to erect a large and impressive three-story brick building. This structure, completed in April 1876, originally was called the Odd Fellow’s Wing. Eventually, it became the Asylum’s main building and is now used for general administration and visitor purposes and is one of several buildings on the Porter-Leath campus listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Turn of the 20th Century
At the turn of the century, the Children’s Home, a small but similar institution on Alabama Street, was consolidated with the Orphanage and the institutions’ new “merged” name became the Leath Orphan Asylum and Children’s Home. Early in 1900, the institution was updated and equipped with electric lightElectric light
Electric lights are a convenient and economic form of artificial lighting which provide increased comfort, safety and efficiency. Most electric lighting is powered by centrally-generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems...
s and plumbing
Plumbing
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
.
On March 16, 1900, the Leath Orphan Asylum and Children’s Home for Orphan and Destitute Children published its Constitution and By-Laws, listing their Trustees (W.W. Schoolfield, James K. Porter, J. S. Dunscomb, Judge J. R. Flippin, W. J. Chase, P. McIntyre and P.R. Friedel), their Honorary Members, Officers and Board Managers, along with the their former Presidents (Mrs. Marge Doyle, Mrs. Joseph Bruce, Mrs. Nina D. Martin, Mrs. A. F. Davis, Mrs. B. F. Haller, Mrs. Joseph Bruce, Mrs. Annie B. Stewart, and Mrs. L.E. Boswell). This publication also set forth the “Rules” of the institution and its visitation policy.
The Porter Home and Leath Orphanage
From the late 19th century, Dr. David T. Porter was a Trustee of the Orphanage and one of its most generous contributors. His brother and sister, James K. Porter and Mrs. Rebecca Porter Bartlett, were also active in the institution. When Mrs. Bartlett died in January 1903, she left a substantial bequestBequest
A bequest is the act of giving property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal property, and "devise" of real property. In legal terminology, "bequeath" is a verb form meaning "to make a bequest."...
to the Orphanage. Her Will probated on January 22, 1903, set forth “… the remainder of my estate of every kind, character … I give, bequeath and devise to J.M. Dockeny, Elica H. Porter, John Quenton, John W. Dillard and Thos. B. Turley, as trustees – and to their successors in trust, … I direct that this fund shall be used … for the care and maintenance of orphans … whether orphaned by the death of one or both parents….”
In 1904, in recognition of her generosity and the services of her late brother, the Home’s name was changed to the Porter Home and Leath Orphan Asylum. Some years later, the name was shortened to the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage.
In 1912 the northern and southern areas of Memphis, Western Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Eastern Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Southeastern Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and Northern Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
were all devastated by Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
flooding and the resulting backup of rivers and bayou
Bayou
A bayou is an American term for a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying areas, and can refer either to an extremely slow-moving stream or river , or to a marshy lake or wetland. The name "bayou" can also refer to creeks that see level changes due to tides and hold brackish water which...
canals in all of these areas. This flood, like all later great Mississippi River flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s, brought many destitute and homeless families and orphans to the high bluff areas of Memphis.
In 1919 the Porter Home and Leath Orphan Asylum published its Annual Report which included a “current” photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
of the main three-story building with its North Annex and a printed invitation stating “Visitors are welcome at the Home every Thursday afternoon.”
The Orphanage Expands
The year 1923 witnessed another change for the institution. That same year, the Detention Ward, which operated as a small institutional hospitalHospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, was built. This one-story brick building adjoined the north side of the original building and served as a hospital for some twenty-three years before closing in 1946. It was reopened in 1953 as a dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
, then closed again, and is now currently used as administrative offices for various PLCC programs.
Mr. Edwin Gould & the Building of Gould Cottage
In 1926, the Superintendent of the Orphanage was Miss Georgia Robinson, who at one time operated a summer campSummer camp
Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
for children in New York for railroad magnate Mr. Edwin Gould
Edwin Gould I
-Family:He married Sarah Cantine Shrady . She inherited $US 10,000,000 upon his death. They had two sons:*Edwin Gould, Jr., . He died on Jekyll Island in 1917....
, son of the famous Jay Gould
Jay Gould
Jason "Jay" Gould was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron, whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time...
. While passing through Memphis that same year, Mr. Gould visited with “warm friend” Ms. Robinson and toured the institution and was impressed by its work. After showering the children with a taxi-load of toys, Gould decided to donate $50,000 to the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage. This generous gift made possible the establishment of a building for older girls. Gould Cottage, as it was named, was completed and dedicated in 1929 and fully and artfully described in newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
articles and pictures published at its dedication. During his lifetime, Edwin Gould continued to send the Orphanage sums of money annually for the upkeep of the building and assisted in the improvement the institution’s other property.
Help from the Exchange Club
In 1927, the Exchange Club of Memphis included the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage as one of its projects. The Exchange Club began to furnish the home with the services of a pediatrician, arranged for the children to receive proper dental careDental care
Dental care is the maintenance of healthy teeth. Forms include:* Oral hygiene, the practice of keeping the mouth and teeth clean in order to prevent cavities , gum disease, and other dental disorders....
, supplied each child with monthly spending money, gave an annual summer Watermelon
Watermelon
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...
Party and an Easter Egg Hunt, and presented a gift to each child on his\her birthday
Birthday
A birthday is a day or anniversary where a person celebrates his or her date of birth. Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, party or rite of passage. Although the major religions celebrate the birth of their founders , Christmas – which is celebrated widely by...
, as well as provided the traditional tree and entertainment for the Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
Party. The old Minute Books and other records of the Orphanage reveal a “Spirit of Exchange” which was woven into the very fabric of the home’s history.
The Formation of the Children’s Bureau
Memphis, during the late 1920s, witnessed the formation of another social agency seeking to serve the needs of children. In 1926, the Community Chest (a predecessor of the United Way) helped organize the Children’s Bureau which was formed to serve dependent, neglected and emotionally disturbed children who were not orphans but who needed temporary foster careFoster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....
. By the late 1920s, the combined efforts of the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage and the Children's Bureau
Children's Bureau
The Children's Bureau may refer to:* The United States Children's Bureau, a U.S. federal agency created in 1912 to promote the health and well-being of children and mothers....
would better meet the needs of children in Memphis and Shelby County.
The Great Depression
During the 1930s, the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
took a heavy toll on local families and children. Due to the economic panic, home life for children was often anything but stable. Some mothers and fathers simply deserted their families rather than face the prospect of not being able to feed and clothe their children. Although federal money was appropriated for emergency assistance, none of it went to private agencies. Instead, any assistance had to come from private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
donations. The federal government provided milk and cod-liver oil for undernourished children in schools, but conditions in privately funded children's home
Children's Home
Children's Home is a historic building at 427 Robeson Street in Fall River, Massachusetts.The Home was built in 1894 and added to the National Historic Register in 1983....
s were in a social upheaval. Even though the Depression years were difficult financially for private organizations dedicated to helping children, institutions like the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage continued diligently in their efforts.
Another incident that caused the Home population to increase was the “great floods of 1937”, which devastated a huge area surrounding Memphis, and thousands of homeless families were brought into Memphis.
As a matter of fact, struggles during the Depression and the great flood helped bring like-minded organizations closer together. For example, Mrs. E.G. Riddick, who was Director of the Children’s Bureau in 1938, also served on the Board of the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage.
The 1940s and WW II
The decade of the 1940s witnessed new opportunities for the Orphanage to serve the needs of children. During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the institution made a wartime contribution by assuming the care of seventeen Memphis youngsters whose parents were unable to care for them because of war-related duties and obligations. The fathers of some of these children were serving in the armed forces
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
while some of the mothers were employed as war plant workers.
The Porter-Leath Home: a vital member of the community
The 1950s brought another name change for the Orphanage – in 1951, the Charter of the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage was amended to change the name of the institution to the Porter-Leath Home.At that time, the institution was in general disorder and disrepair and had experienced trouble finding a director and sufficient funding. In October 1951, Paul J. Sawrie and his wife agreed to run the Orphanage for thirty days until a permanent director could be found. They served in their “temporary” capacities for the next fifteen years. During that time, under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Sawrie, the Home underwent a number of positive changes and improvements.
Also during this period of time the Orphanage children attended Memphis Public Schools with several of the PLH children attending Humes School two blocks south of the Orphanage on North Manassas and also referred to by many Memphians as “Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
’s school”. Several of the neighborhood children attending school with the PLH children came from impoverished homes. Quite often some of these children would come home with the PLH children after school. These guests were allowed to stay for supper
Supper
Supper is the name for the evening meal in some dialects of English - ordinarily the last meal of the day. Originally, in the Middle Ages, it referred to the lighter meal following dinner, where until the 18th century dinner was invariably eaten as the midday meal.The term is derived from the...
, play in a peaceful and safe environment and often stayed over on weekends affording them access to an environment not enjoyed in their own homes.
The 1950s Bring Change to the Porter Leath Home
The early 1950s witnessed the organization of the Child Welfare Division under the Tennessee Department of Public Welfare. Conforming to the Department’s Institutional Standards in 1952, the Porter-Leath Home made some physical changes. Under recommendation by the Department, the institution’s nurseryNursery school
A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
was closed. As a result, the Home only cared for children of school age. The nursery, originally constructed to care for infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
s, began to accommodate children six and seven years of age.
Other important improvements made at the Porter-Leath Home included: the installation of additional lighting, new restrooms, and a new waste system. Also during this time period, the Exchange Club assisted the Home in providing a new library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
for the children.
In 1953, the Home began the successful operation of “cottage type” child care. The buildings were divided into six departments, each with twelve children, a housemother and complete living accommodations. Each unit had a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, study tables and comfortable, attractive furniture. According to the Home’s director Paul Sawrie, the transition to the small-group method of child-care stressed individual attention. In evaluating this new type of child-care, the Tennessee Department of Public Welfare declared that Porter-Leath Home had “desirable standards” - a degree higher than “minimum standards.” As a result of this proclamation, the Home no longer was required to undergo routine examinations under the new standard rules.
The Declining Need for Orphan Services
By the early 1960s, the Trustees of Porter-Leath Home recognized the declining need of services for orphans. Institutional care for orphans became rare largely due to the availability of Social Security benefits and Public Assistance Programs. Also, the numbers of true orphans diminished significantly as medical advances were made. Consequently, the Trustees sought to expand the Home’s child-caring services to meet the ever-increasing demands for more specialized institutional programs. As a result, by 1961 children under care at Porter-Leath came from the Courts, the Children’s Bureau and the Department of Public Welfare. For the most part, these children were dependent and neglected and from broken homes. The “cottageCottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
-type” or small-group system instituted by the Home in the 1950s was well suited to provide individual care and attention to children in such distress.
The First Group Home in Memphis
During the 1960s, the Children’s Bureau, which had provided foster care for dependent and neglected children prior to the establishment of the State Child Welfare Division, also moved toward more specialized care. In 1962, the Bureau, which was now supported by tax funds, opened a group homeGroup home
A group home is a private residence designed or converted to serve as a non-secure home for unrelated persons who share a common characteristic.-Types of group homes:...
for older boys. This was the first group home in the community and was provided through the help of the Optimist Group Foundation.
In the 1960s, both Porter-Leath Home and Children’s Bureau were agencies supported by Shelby United Neighbors (S.U.N.). While the Children’s Bureau placed children with foster families and provided casework for children in the home, Porter-Leath Home provided institutional care for children. In addition to receiving funding from S.U.N., Porter-Leath Home had an endowment fund. Interest from this fund, and a small amount of money collected from the families of the children, supplemented the funds allocated by S.U.N. Approximately one-third of the yearly budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
set up for operational expenses came from the Home’s own resources.
Porter-Leath Continues to Renovate
In the early 1960s, during the tenure of Mr. Paul Sawrie as Director, Porter-Leath Home again went through a long-term renovationRenovation
Renovation is the process of improving a structure. Two prominent types of renovations are commercial and residential.-Process:The process of a renovation, however complex, can usually be broken down into several processes...
and up-grade of their physical plant including: a remodeling of the inside of the old laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
building (which was situated east of the main building) into an up-to-date meeting hall for parents visiting children and the installation of a three-chair barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
shop, a scout workroom, and modern restrooms for girls and boys. There was a black-topped parking area installed on the east side of the Annex Building as well as a smooth, black-topped basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
court. The athletic field was rearranged and re-graded with the assistance of the Public Works Department and the Memphis Park Commission. The playground equipment was rearranged and placed in a larger area of open ground and new swings were installed, also with the help of the Memphis Park Commission. During these improvements, the final appointments and decorations were furnished by the Exchange Club.
Porter-Leath & the Children’s Bureau First Merger Attempt
As the needs in the community changed during the sixties, the Trustees of Porter-Leath Home and the Board of Children’s Bureau began to look at other/better ways of serving children in need. For example, the Home’s Director Paul Sawrie expressed concern that Porter-Leath needed a caseworkCasework
-Standards:Casework is a term used to describe commercial grade cabinets. These cabinets differ from residential kitchen cabinets by their materials. Casework is made of plastic laminate or melamine. Institutional casework is specified in the health care and educational industries. Casework is not...
service to supplement its small-group system of child-care. In October 1960, a cooperative organizational plan was proposed between the two agencies. By 1961, the Consolidation Project, a promotion of S.U.N., outlined a merger between Porter-Leath and the Children’s Bureau.
As a result, a Porter-Leath-Children’s Bureau Consolidation Committee was formed. Meetings and discussions in regard to consolidation lasted for almost a year, until Porter-Leath’s Board of Trustees finally withdrew from the idea. This action on the part of the Trustees was followed in the succeeding months by criticisms and pressures which finally resulted in Porter-Leath Home and Children’s Bureau being brought together under a trial period of actual work in the Home which continued for some nine months. This working arrangement, however, did not coordinate with Porter-Leath’s established routine and was discontinued in June 1963. For the next few years, Porter-Leath Home did not become affiliated with the Children’s Bureau. Although the Home’s Director, its Boards of Trustees and managers realized the necessity to modernize its child-care efforts, they wanted to do so with minimal changes to Porter-Leath’s traditional customs.
The Birth of Porter-Leath Children's Center
By 1965, an evaluation of the Porter-Leath Home by the Department of Public Welfare strongly recommended the institution update its services from just providing custodial care to a multiple-program format for children. According to the evaluation, other programs, such as Aid to Families with Dependent ChildrenAid to Families with Dependent Children
Aid to Families with Dependent Children was a federal assistance program in effect from 1935 to 1996, which was administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services...
(AFDC), veteran’s benefits, foster homes and Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
benefits, had limited the need for institutions serving dependent and neglected
Child neglect
Child neglect is defined as:# "the failure of a person responsible for a child’s care and upbringing to safeguard the child’s emotional and physical health and general well-being"...
children. The Department determined, with professional casework and the utilization of other programs for children and families, many children could remain in their own homes. This service could best be accomplished by professional caseworkers working together with children, their parents and other community resources.
Apparently, the State’s recommendations, the changing climate of child-care and the home’s difficulty conforming to Federal Standards for a modern child-care agency convinced the administrators of Porter-Leath Home to reconsider the cooperative affiliation with Children’s Bureau. This endeavor resulted in the Porter-Leath Home consolidating its services with the Children’s Bureau effective November 20, 1969. When these two agencies merged, their combined efforts became known as the Porter-Leath Children’s Center. The goal of this merger was to provide comprehensive child welfare
Child welfare
Child protection is used to describe a set of usually government-run services designed to protect children and young people who are underage and to encourage family stability...
services for children and their families. According to the president of the Children’s Bureau, this consolidation was one of the greatest steps ever taken in Memphis toward providing treatment for children with emotional problems as well as dependent and neglected children.
1969-1997
Since 1969, Porter-Leath Children’s Center has changed the focus of its services and developed new programs to meet the ever-changing needs of children and families in the Memphis community. Beginning in 1971, Porter-Leath began to operate and supervise a series of family day homes (day careDay care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
in a person’s home) that cared for the children of working parents in a family setting in their home neighborhoods. Through this program, nutritious hot meals are served to children at the homes and social services are provided by trained social workers to the families.
Porter-Leath Recognized by Shelby County Historical Commission
On December 11, 1985, Porter-Leath’s buildings were officially noted as historical properties and a marker was placed in front of the main campus building and dedicated by the Shelby County Historical Commission. The marker reads:PORTER-LEATH CHILDREN’S CENTER
An orphan asylum founded by Sara Leath was chartered in 1850 and moved to this site in 1856. After surviving the hardships of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
years, the orphanage endured the scourge of the 1870s yellow fever epidemics. Since many children were orphaned during this period, additional capacity was needed. Responding to this crisis, in 1875 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows provided funds to erect another building. In 1904 the name Porter was added in recognition of the generosity of the Porter family. Porter-Leath continued to be an orphanage until 1969 when it became a multi-service agency to serve more children in need.
Northside High School Infant Care Center
In 1987, Porter-Leath, in collaboration with the Memphis/Shelby County Health Department, received a five-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson FoundationRobert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the United States' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans...
to begin on-site services at Northside High School. The Health Department opened a school-based health clinic and Porter-Leath opened an on-site infant care center. The center offered childcare for Northside students enabling teen parents to continue their educations. The center also offered individual and group parenting
Parenting
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
classes. Students were required to volunteer a minimum of one hour per week and to pick their children up after school unless participating in a school-sanctioned event.
Once established, it was expected that the infant care center would be sustained with state funding. State Title XX funds were allocated to the Northside Infant Care Center until 1997, when the State began the current voucher
Voucher
A voucher is a bond which is worth a certain monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include housing, travel, and food vouchers...
system which allows parents to choose any child care center. Given the choice of Northside Infant Care, where the teen’s participation was required and other centers with no such requirement or regulations, many teens began to choose alternative childcare locations. As enrollment dropped, the Northside Infant Care Center became fiscally unviable and closed its doors at the end of the 1997 school year.
Programs for Teens in State Custody
Due to the increase in the number of children leaving state custody without the skills needed to become self-sufficient, the State of Tennessee implemented specialized services to provide job training and independent life skillsLife skills
Life skills are problem solving behaviors used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life...
for youth in custody. The Employment Training for Teens Program at PLCC began in 1987 as the Tutor-Mentor Program. The program began with only twelve youth and evolved over the years to serve over fifty youth per year with more than twenty work sites throughout the City of Memphis at its peak.
In addition to the services provided by Porter-Leath’s Employment Training Program, in 1996 the After Care Project was implemented to assist youth who have been emancipated from custody. These services were provided to prevent future unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
, transient street lifestyles and homelessness
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
. The support provided through Employment Training for Teens and the After Care Project gave youth the tools needed to become self-sufficient, productive and independent. Due to funding cuts within the State of Tennessee, this successful program was closed in 2003.
PLCC’s Independent Living Program began in 1987 within a residential home on Cooper Street. The program placed young men (ages 16–20) who lacked a proper adult role model
Role model
The term role model generally means any "person who serves as an example, whose behaviour is emulated by others".The term first appeared in Robert K. Merton's socialization research of medical students...
, in group homes where house parents would teach them self-sufficiency
Self-sufficiency
Self-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or interaction, for survival; it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy...
and living skills focused on ensuring their ability to function successfully upon release from foster care at the age of majority. In late May 2000, the Independent Living program moved into a totally renovated and updated large four-square brick home on the southwest corner of North Parkway and Dunlap. Not only did PLCC restore the usefulness of this structure and aid in the renewal of this area of the community, but also gave the young men at Independent Living a much larger, totally updated and healthy environment for growth. Unfortunately, funding for independent living
Independent living
Independent living, as seen by its advocates, is a philosophy, a way of looking at disability and society, and a worldwide movement of people with disabilities working for self-determination, self-respect and equal opportunities...
programs were discontinued at the state level and this facility was closed in 2004.
HIPPY and MIHOW
In approximately 1990, the National Council of Jewish WomenNational Council of Jewish Women
The National Council of Jewish Women defines itself as a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action...
began exploring the idea of bringing the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) to Memphis. PLCC was approached to implement the program and the search began for funding.
In 1995 PLCC received an AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is a U.S. federal government program that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and later expanded by 50 percent under President George W. Bush...
grant to begin the HIPPY program, with matching funds from Goals 2000. HIPPY is a home-based literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
program delivered by AmeriCorps paraprofessionals designed to help parents become their child’s first teacher.
In recognition of the need for earlier and more comprehensive intervention with families, the program began using the Maternal/Infant Health Outreach Worker Project (MIHOW) curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
in 1998 thus expanding services to include pregnant women and families with children birth to five years of age. Due to this expanded focus, the name of the program was changed to Early Intervention in 1999.
Sarah’s Place
In November 1993, as a result of a large fundraisingFundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
campaign with the special efforts of Nancy Chase, PaLs, the Trustees, the Board of Directors and staff a new, state-of-the-art shelter facility, named Sarah’s Place (in honor of Sarah Leath) was opened to provide emergency care for neglected or abused
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
children. Sarah’s Place is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Trained child-care workers, supervised by a professional social worker, provide a safe, secure environment for children in distress until permanent plans can be made for the child.
Early Head Start Services Begin
In 1998, PLCC received a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in September 1998 to begin an Early Head Start Program serving sixty children aged six-weeks to three years of age, along with a home-based component for pregnant mothers. This program was the first of its kind in Shelby County. The initial program year was spent on program planning and development. Early Head Start, originally known as Bright Start, began delivery of home-based services to families in September 1999.In May 2000, the Early Head Start Center, a state-of-the-art facility and the first of its kind in West Tennessee
West Tennessee
West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the State of Tennessee. Of the three, it is the one that is most sharply defined geographically. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River on the west and the Tennessee River on the east...
, was completed on the north end of the PLCC campus. In June 2000 Early Head Start began offering a combination of home-based and center-based Early Head Start services. In March 2001, PLCC received an expansion grant for Early Head Start to increase its number of children in the program to 95 and entered into a contract with Metropolitan Inter Faith Association (MIFA) to operate an Early Head Start center for 27 children at its Les Passees Center. In September 2005, MIFA requested and PLCC agreed to take over operations of its Early Head Start program. In June 2006, the Early Head Start Center received accreditation
Accreditation
Accreditation is a process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented.Organizations that issue credentials or certify third parties against official standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies ; hence they are sometimes known as "accredited...
for the National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Association for the Education of Young Children
The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the largest nonprofit association in the United States representing early childhood education teachers, paraeducators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families of young children, policy makers, and advocates...
(NAEYC). NAEYC accreditation is the highest level of accreditation that a child care program can attain.
In the fall of 1998, PLCC was invited to join a collaborative effort to plan an overall strategy for ensuring that all children of Memphis have the opportunity to experience optimal development during their preschool years. The resulting plan was submitted to United Way of America in an application for Success by Six funding. In 1999, United Way of the Mid-South received funding through Success by Six for one staff position to provide training, technical assistance and financial support to child care centers. This funding was passed through PLCC and the United for Children program was begun. United for Children ended in 2000 when PLCC did not receive adequate funding
Funding
Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money , or other values such as effort or time , for a project, a person, a business or any other private or public institutions...
to sustain the program.
Additional Renovations are Made at Porter-Leath
1998 brought renewed focus on the long-neglected physical plant of the PLCC main campus. In March 1998, a successful fundraising campaign, including a $50,000 grant from the State of Tennessee, led to new roofs being installed on many buildings. In May 1998, the Agency welcomed NationsBankNationsBank
NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1998, it acquired BankAmerica to become Bank of America.-Corporate history:...
volunteers who cleaned, repaired and installed iron fencing and massive landscaping improvements with a value of $120,000. As a result of this and other on-going campus improvements, the Agency participated in the Memphis City Beautiful Program for 1998-99. New lighting was installed and a tree trimming/maintenance program began in 1998. The deteriorated Gould Cottage was completely rehabilitated and reopened as the Adoption Resources Cottage in 2001. In 2002 the long-dormant and uninhabitable South Annex building was renovated using a Housing and Community Development Grant and brought a new walking track to the campus. A gazebo
Gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal, that may be built, in parks, gardens, and spacious public areas. Gazebos are freestanding or attached to a garden wall, roofed, and open on all sides; they provide shade, shelter, ornamental features in a landscape, and a place to rest...
and walking paths were added in 2003.
Porter-Leath Makes High-Quality a Top Priority
On September 18, 1998, PLCC initiated its first Total Quality Management Program, supported by a new Quality Improvement department, with verifiable positive results. The program infused principles of quality improvement throughout the Agency. Key components of the process include: data collection on quality indicators per department and program; long and short term outcomes; analysis of data to identify opportunities for improvements; success definition; grant writingGrant writing
Grant writing refers to the practice of completing an application processes for funding provided by an institution such as a government department, corporation, foundation or trust. Such application processes are often referred to as either grant "proposals" or "submissions". Successful grant...
; implementing improvement teams to evaluate key processes; and strategic planning. The Agency’s quality efforts have been recognized by the Greater Memphis Award for Quality for Level I in 1999 and Level II in 2000. PLCC received the State of Tennessee Level II Quality Award and the prestigious Horizon Award from the Grant Center in 2002. In 2004, PLCC was recognized with the Level III quality award from GMAQ along with the prestigious Pyramid of Excellence award. Earning the Pyramid award put the Agency in the company of “for-profit” Pyramid winners such as FedEx
FedEx
FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee...
and Smith and Nephew. Porter-Leath was first accredited by the Council on Accreditation in 1996 and was reaccredited in 1999 and 2002.
Head Start Services Begin
In October 2001, PLCC opened its first Head Start center at 1600 Ash Street in the Douglass neighborhood. This 16500 square feet (1,532.9 m²) facility serves 160 children aged three to five. Douglass Head Start was built by Shelby County Government and is leased by Porter-Leath for $1 per year. Douglass Head Start earned accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in June 2006.A donation from a local web developing team led to the Agency’s first ever website in June 2001.
American Way Head Start opened as PLCC’s second Head Start center and began serving 238 children aged three to five in November 2002. This 22000 square feet (2,043.9 m²) facility located at 4207 American Way was completely renovated under the Agency’s direction. Fund raising provided all of the furniture, fixtures and equipment for the modern center. The program serves 238 children during the Head Start school year and 100 of those children year-round. American Way Head Start earned accreditation by NAEYC in June 2006.
Porter-Leath Plans for the Future
The Porter-Leath Early Childhood Foundation (PLECF) was created in October 2004 with a $1,000,000 donation from the Porter-Leath Home. Housed at the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, the PLECF was developed to create a better tool for raising funds to sustain the Agency.January 2005 brought about strategic changes to the executive staff and board of directors. Both were transformed into a more corporate style to enhance the long-term capacity of the Agency.
The Heart Gallery
Porter-Leath became the lead agency for Shelby County’s Heart Gallery in March 2005. The Heart Gallery is a traveling pictorial exhibit of photos of girls and boys available for adoptionAdoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
in Shelby County. The ultimate goal of the program is to display appealing pictures in public areas such as churches, banks, etc. to bring awareness to adoption and to recruit new adoptive families. The Gallery is a partnership with the TN Department of Children’s Services and other adoption agencies located throughout Shelby County.
The Runaway\Homeless Program
In April 2005, Porter-Leath utilized private fund raising and a United Way Venture grant to begin a Runaway/Homeless Program. Operating out of the Sarah’s Place facility, Porter-Leath accepted up to 8 runaway/homeless children from the Memphis/Shelby County Juvenile Court. This venture helped the Agency to write a successful Runaway/Homeless grant proposal. For three years starting in September 2005, Porter-Leath will serve up to 160 Runaway/Homeless children per year.Spoonfuls - CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program)
Porter-Leath’s Spoonfuls Program was organized in 1979 to promote the development of healthy eating habits and the furtherance of nutritionNutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
education through a well-balanced and varied diet. PLCC saw a need for such a program in its day care department and became a Program sponsor of family day homes in 1980.
Connections - Residential Services
In February 1976, the Center’s group-home care was enlarged when a third home was opened with the help of the Optimists. The Optimist Boys Foundation, recognizing the need for group homes for girls as well as boys, decided to expand their horizons. The Optimists changed the name of the Boy’s Foundation to the Optimist Foundation. The framework of group-home care is a structured routine of daily living stressing positive reinforcement of progress by the child.The group-home program is closely allied with foster care. The foster care program at the Agency provides care for abused and neglected children. Counseling by professionally trained social workers is available to each child served in the program. In addition to providing short-term care, Porter-Leath seeks permanent placements for children eligible for adoption. The adoption program recruits families to provide permanent homes for infants and youths. In the late 1980s, the Agency realized there were not enough homes for minority children and began an adoption program aimed at placing these and other “hard to place” children. For young pregnant women, Porter-Leath offered a variety of social services as well as referrals for medical and extended services.
Generations - Foster Grandparent Program
The Foster Grandparent program was formed nationally in 1965 and in Memphis in 1982. The program is a national volunteer service program that gives low-income seniors (60+) opportunities to give one-on-one support to children with special needs or who need a positive adult role model. In 1985, Tennessee Foster Grandparents surrendered its Charter and the local Foster Grandparents Program came under the sponsorship of Porter-Leath. Under the sponsorship of the Agency, the FGP program continues to provide support to mentally, emotionally, developmentally and/or physically challenged children throughout the City of Memphis and Shelby and Fayette Counties in Western Tennessee. Today Foster Grandparents volunteer at work sites including hospitals, schools, daycare centers, libraries, Head Start centers, centers for children with disabilities and in residential facilities.Head Start
A child’s development begins in the earliest moments of life, with social and cognitive skills that affect their ability to enter school and succeed. Yet children from many low-income families are often not afforded the same opportunities to develop these skills as other children. Porter-Leath’s Head Start programs — Head Start for preschool children ages 3 to 5 and Early Head Start for children from birth to preschool age — ensure these children develop to the best of their ability and receive all of the building blocks necessary to be successful in school. Porter-Leath Head Start offers a comprehensive combination of quality home-based family services and on-site educational programs completely free of charge. All children receive multiple screenings throughout the year, such as dental exams, vision screenings and hearing tests.CareerPlace
Oftentimes parents can find themselves without access to the resources they need to achieve independence and best support their families. They may require skills training, need a personal responsibility plan, or most importantly, desire a chance to hold a meaningful occupation. Enter CareerPlace, a partner of the Seedco network and a program that empowers parents by giving them ownership in their new livelihood and achievements, as well as a second chance to make their families and employers proud. CareerPlace focuses on job readiness—giving parents the expertise they need to re-enter the workforce as well-trained, well-prepared individuals, and then matching them with employers whose needs they can best fill. The result is a work experience that puts everyone on the right path, and a community that is stronger for everyone.Cornerstone
Parents play a critical role in laying the basic foundation for their child’s learning. Many have the tools they need to succeed in this area, but lack the confidence or knowledge to make the most of them — tools such as the environmental conditions of the home and the simple, intellectual stimulation of the child. Cornerstone is an early childhood home visitation program that provides pregnant mothers as well as families of children from birth to age 5 with all of the proper tools necessary for positive child development. Porter-Leath staff, and AmeriCorps members, use two, nationally recognized, age-specific curriculums to teach these skills to families in their homes, where they can be immediately put into practice.Cornerstone administers in-home visits utilizing AmeriCorps members as home visitors to at-risk pregnant women in Shelby County, which has the highest infant mortality rate in the nation. This program has multiple successes - over 92% of low-income pregnant women in the program have healthy birth weight babies, which is the leading factor in preventing infant mortality.