Crossroad Child & Family Services, Inc. is at 1825 Beacon Street. Their Facebook page states: In 1883, The Reformed Church in the United States established “The Reformed Orphan’s Home of Fort Wayne, IN.” In October 1883, nine-year-old Hermann Leisering came to live with our first Superintendent, Rev. John Rettig, and his wife. Over many decades, hundreds of orphans and other children in need of a home came here to live on the land on which we were founded and still stand on today. As the need for orphanages began to diminish after World War II, we adapted by providing a home for unwed mothers known as Woodhaven and services for emotionally troubled children. More than 1,000 unwed mothers came to Woodhaven from 1959 to 1973 to live until giving birth. Members of supporting churches adopted most of the infants. The need for these services diminished in the early 1970s as it became acceptable for unwed mothers to remain in their family homes. However, we continued to work with troubled children, expanding our services and making a name for ourselves in the Midwest as one of the finest treatment providers for emotionally troubled young people. For many years we were known as The Fort Wayne Children’s Home. We started using the name Crossroad in 1975. In 2010 our legal name became Crossroad Child & Family Services, Inc. Today we provide a full spectrum of services in residential, outpatient, home-based, and community settings. David Mullins became our President and Chief Executive Officer in 2021. He is the thirteenth administrator of our agency.
#TBT From the #CrossroadArchives: We're throwing it all the way back to the very beginning. Pictured here is the last known surviving photograph of Sunrise Cottage. This building, for the first several years of our existence, was the entirety of what came to be known as the Reformed Orphans Home of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In 1883, nine-year-old Hermann Leisering came to live with our first Superintendent, Rev. John Rettig and his wife in this very building. Over many decades, hundreds of orphans and other children in need of a home came here to live on the land on which we were founded and still stand on today. Originally sitting on 200 acres, much of the land has been sold off and now contains Parkview Hospital Randallia, Parkview Behavioral Health, Byron Wellness Center, the Fort Wayne VA Hospital, and dozens of other businesses, nonprofits, and private residences.
In the modern era, we provide a full spectrum of services in residential, outpatient, home-based, and community settings.
#TBT from the #crossroadarchives: Here is an aerial view of our campus from the early 1950s looking north/northwest, featuring the brand new Westminster Administration Building and 3 new dormitories. 3 of these 4 buildings are still standing - the living unit on the far right was demolished to make room for the new Rider Administration Building, completed in 2021.
The large fields to the south were sold off and is now occupied by Byron Health Center. As the real estate surrounding what was at the time known as the Fort Wayne Childrens Home became more urbanized, our board of directors decided that if land was to be sold off, it would need to be used for public health purposes - specifically for mental health and well-being. Now, Parkview Hospital, the VA Hospital, Parkview Behavioral Health, Byron Health, Park Center, Early Childhood Alliance, and more all sit on land that was, at one time, farmland that belonged to the Fort Wayne Children's Home.
There have been so many incredible stories pass through our campus over the last 140 years. Stories of triumph, of resilience, of trauma, heartbreak, and loss. In this picture you see here, there would've been children who were abandoned by their parents, children who were born into families that didn't have the ability to take care of them, children who's parents died in an accident, or war, or domestic violence, or sickness, or......
But if you look closely, you'll also see the adults here who cared for them. The all-too-often thankless job of caring for those who would otherwise be forgotten by society. The long, grueling hours and the heartbreaking responsibility of showing these children that there is indeed some good in this world. It's them that we honor and remember as we approach this milestone 140th anniversary.
But it's not just these adults who make it possible. It's the adults (and sometimes even other kids) who make the choice to donate their time and treasure to ensure these children are taken care of. It's adults like you, reading this social media post right now.
You can be a part of our story. We'd love for you to join us.
#TBT from the #CrossroadArchive: Our campus and our community sure looked a lot different 123 years ago! In this postcard image from 1900, you can see the drive that for the majority of our history, welcomed visitors to our campus.
Nothing in this picture exists any longer. We've evolved, torn down and built up so much since the photographer snapped this photograph. That was all made possible through the generosity of those who care about the well being of children and families in our community.
You can help ensure that our campus can continue to evolve for the next 140 years by visiting our website! www.crossroadcares.org/anniversary
Crossroad was established 140 years ago as The Reformed Orphans’ Home of Fort Wayne Indiana on the land where we still sit today. For more than half a century, the land was cultivated by the staff and boys of the Home who were big enough to handle the work.
The Home also rented and worked neighboring farms as well. They raised the grain, fruits, vegetables, and meat for the home and sold extra crops, saving and making money for the Home. They learned the skills needed to farm the land, raise livestock, and repair machinery.
One visiting minister wrote, “All of the children are put to work, and thus are they taught the valuable and indispensable lesson of industry.”
The Home was a self-sufficient farm. In 1904, the farm was, “yielding better results from year to year. Our wheat harvest yielded 350 bushels. We expect a yield of 1000 bushels of oats. We have hay sufficient for our cattle. The harvest of early potatoes was satisfactory and also enough berries. We have always had enough vegetables for our large family. Our stock consists of 9 horses, 15 calves, 30 – 75 pigs and 150 poultry. During the last winter we killed 31 pigs and several heifers for home use.” (Superintendent, Rev. Winter)
Former male residents remember husking corn, digging peanuts, potatoes and horseradish, picking fruit, rendering lard, butchering and salting meat, bailing hay, hoeing weeds, cleaning stalls, grinding the grain, lugging big crates of vegetables, hitching the horses to the implements, using that first gasoline tractor, snitching a few bites of fresh food while picking, cutting fire wood, and celebrating the end of harvest with a bon-fire. And they love to talk about the old thrashing machines!
Children continued to work the farm well into the 1950s. For many years, boys who were then attending North Side High School had to leave school early in order to walk back to the Home in time to milk cows, gather eggs, feed stock, and tend the fields while there was still light.
No more farm work these days! But our children are certainly taught valuable skills that will benefit once they are successfully discharged from our care.
www.crossroadcares.org/anniversary