What We Believe, Where We Came From, Where We're Goin

Our Mission

The mission of Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center is to improve the quality of life for children, families, elderly and the community by providing social services, educational programs, advocacy and entrepreneurship.

Our History & Primary Business Function

In 1886, a group of dedicated women lead by Sarah Cochran raised community concern for the welfare of African American neglected and orphaned children. Most commonly known as the Annie Malone Children's Home, the Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center first opened its doors in 1888 as the St. Louis Colored Orphan's Home. Having two previous locations in the St. Louis Community, the generosity of Annie Turnbo Pope Malone made it possible to secure a permanent location for the home in 1922 at 2612 Annie Malone Drive (formally Goode Ave.) The facility remains in the Historic Ville Neighborhood today and serves as the administrative offices for the organization.

Despite the mergers and closings of many ethnic orphanages in the 1950's, Annie Malone continued to serve as a refuge for children. In the 1980's, it opened a Boys Group Home serving boys 14 years of age and older and The Family Crisis Center, providing crisis nursery and respite care services for children at risk of abuse and neglect.

In the 1990's, Annie Malone completed a renovation project opening the old Homer G. Phillips Nurses Building as a residential care facility. It moved the small therapeutic school, Emerson Academy, to that same location and responded to the state's request to implement programs (Family Reunion and Family Focus) that worked to reunite families and with families whose children were at risk of being placed in foster care. Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center worked with local churches and other social service agencies to form the Northside Consortium, designed to help families affected by the Welfare to Work Act of 1996. The agency also added the Day Care to provide preschool education to children age birth to 5 1/2 years.

For the past 119 years, the center has worked to be responsive to the needs of children and remain a viable social service provider in the greater St. Louis community.

Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit community-based organization providing services that seek to improve the quality of life for children, families, the elderly and the community by providing social services, educational programs, advocacy and entrepreneurship in the St. Louis community. We work to meet the comprehensive needs of abused, neglected and abandoned children and their families.

The services we provide are Residential Treatment Services, Family Focus Intensive Services, Family Reunification Services, Parent Education Program, A Therapeutic School - Emerson Academy, Emergency Respite Services, Day Care, and Food & Catering Programs.

Our Future

Annie Malone is also deeply involved in efforts to revitalize St. Louis' historic Greater Ville neighborhood through community initiatives. The renovation of the Homer G. Phillips Nurses' Residence and the opening of Emerson Academy Therapeutic School are just two of our recent success stories. We continue to pursue the formation of solid partnerships with agencies such as the Missouri Division of Family Services, St. Louis Community College - Forest Park, and other faith-based and social organizations to bring our community needed services and commercial opportunities. Future development projects for the area include a food service training program, a mini market, and a Conference/Training/High Tech Center. Plans are also in place for the development of low and moderate-income housing.

No matter how much we grow, one thing will never change: our commitment to improving the wellness and stability of children and their families.

 

 

Do you want to know more...

... about Annie Malone?
... about Structures, People, & Events in Ville History?
... about the Greater Ville neighborhood?

Click these links for more information or click here to learn more about our programs and services.