The original children’s home was first opened for the reception of children on February 1, 1913, with its first location in Creal Springs, IL. On February 18, 1920, one of the main buildings was destroyed by fire, and a decision was made to relocate.

The Orphan’s & Children’s Home of the Southern Illinois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church was then relocated from Creal Springs, IL to its present location in Mt. Vernon, IL in October of 1921. The Jefferson County location consisted of 25 acres of land and a large two story home known as the Tanner House. The home was built in 1866 and at the time of relocation, housed all of the children and the superintendent.

In 1923, a dormitory was built providing ward-type sleeping arrangements. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, many of the children served were orphans. By the 1960’s both the youth in residence and the facilities changed as society changed. The reduction in the number of true orphans was the most significant difference in the children referred for care. In their place, an even more tragic type of referral, became prevalent treatment for young victims of physical and sexual abuse and neglect. Housing was constructed to provide “family” type living to replace the institution setting. Through the 1970’s and 1980’s, new concepts were introduced that emphasized the need for teaching social skills and appropriate actions administered by family teachers and assistants.

With the introduction of federal assistance into the child welfare system in the early 1990’s, the focus moved from family teaching to a mental health treatment perspective. While the child welfare system reached all time high case load numbers in the mid 1990’s, the late 1990’s saw the beginning of a drastic reduction in the number of children in care throughout the State of Illinois. We responded to this trend by focusing more programming toward community needs to fulfill our mission.

In 1996 the United Methodist Children’s Home Foundation was formed to both oversee the endowment fund and assist with fund raising to supplement the Home’s revenue. A capital campaign was undertaken by the Foundation in 1998 for a two phase building project. Phase one consisting of an activity room which also served as a Chapel and office space was completed in 1999. The William H. Dennison Chapel Complex, phase two, was completed in 2003 providing a beautiful Chapel and a versatile conference room.