Generous Hearts

by Susan Bonnett Bourgeois

Methodist Children’s Home of Southeast Louisiana Building a Future for Louisiana’s Children

HERE IN SOUTH LOUISIANA, we have a startling rate of children in need of hope and healing, and for many of them, options are limited. In fact, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which focuses on improving the life of America’s children, has ranked the state 49th in overall childhood wellbeing. But there is hope. For this Inside Northside Home & Garden issue, we wanted to feature a different kind of “home” and also one of our member nonprofits that has been working on this problem for more than a century.

Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services is a statewide organization dedicated to improving the mental health and general welfare of Louisiana’s children and families. Though it began as an orphanage over 120 years ago, LUMCFS has grown and evolved, and today, it provides levels of care through many different programs, including three residential treatment facilities, and a new one is on the way.

In February 2022, LUMCFS will open a brand new, state-of-the-art facility for its Methodist Children’s Home of Southeast Louisiana, marking the beginning of a historic expansion of its services in this region—an area in which half of the state’s children and families in need live. Originally located in New Orleans, this Children’s Home facility was forced to close after Hurricane Katrina, and the children in care evacuated to the North Louisiana campus in Ruston before eventually settling in a temporary space in Mandeville. In 2015, LUMCFS purchased 123 acres of land on the northshore for the comprehensive new facility, which has the capacity to nearly double the number of children in care each year. It has been specially designed to meet them where they are, and with care and love, guide them to the future they deserve.

The Children’s Home’s Program Director, Marlin Giacona, shares what it means to join in its mission. “Ultimately, we want to guide our children back to homes that are ready to receive them, that are healthy, that are creative, that are supportive. I feel like to say that it’s a blessing is almost an understatement of what it is, because it’s such a wonderful thing to be a part of. If you ever have the opportunity to meet any of our boys, they speak for why we do the things that we do.”

With much of the campus still undeveloped, LUMCFS Director of Development and Public Relations Sarah Head says, “Because it’s so conveniently located among a large portion of the population, we see this facility developing into a ‘one-stop shop’ for the region—a campus in which the organization’s many community-based services can be found alongside the Children’s Home.” Plans include a Methodist Foster Care and Life Skills Training building, equine therapy center and chapel.

The mission of the new Children’s Home translates to helping children recover by building trust and instilling hope. Giacona adds, “We’re not just building offices and dorms here; we’re building a future for the children of Louisiana and creating a legacy that will outlive us all.”

Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services is a valued member of the Northshore Community Foundation. If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a member of the Foundation, visit NorthshoreFoundation.org; for more information on the new Children’s Home in Loranger, Louisiana, or if you would like to support its mission, visit mchsela.com.