The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-07-16
CHILDREN'S HOME
ANNUAL MEETING
Advisory Board and Auxiliary Meet
at San Carlos in Annual
Session.

officers of the advisory board and also
of the ladies auxiliary Of the Chill
dren's Home Society was held at the
| San Carlos hotel at 4 o'clock Thurs
day afternoon. The meeting was pre-
sided over by Chairman l.. Hilton
Green.
| Dan B. Mcmillan, secretary treas
urer of the home, reported on the ac-
| tivities of the home and urged that
additional financial support be given.
| w. B. Ferris, chairman Of the house
committee, reported that rat-proof-
| ing had been completed and that all
other buildings had been properly
cared for.
Miss Evelyn NJ. Deming, superinten-
dent of the home, reported on some of
the needs of the home, urging that
more homes be opened to the children,
more funds provided, and clothing be
made available for the little ones.
| Officers were elected as follows:
| L. Hilton Green, president; Judge T..
d. Beggs, vice president; Dan B. Nc
MILAN, treasurer.
In his report Mr.. Mcmillan said, in
part:
THAT the Children's Home Society
of Florida, through it's West Florida
branch, has made good during it's first
year, seems to be the general impress
sion everywhere.
"A year ago on June is, after some
weeks of preparatory steps, the di-
rectors of the Pearl Eagan home
| turned over the home and the COM
/ nj 0f
work to the Children's Home Society
of Florida, the former board of direc-
tors of the Pearl Eagan home remain
ing as a special advisory board.
The work of the home was enlarged
to include it's services to the orphan,
homeless and needy children of the
nine counties in West Florida lying
west of the Apalachicola river The
headquarters for the West Florida
branch were established at sol Blount
| building, and Miss Kate w. Rodgers,
assistant superintendent for many
years of the general state work, was
placed in active charge.
I'm order to enlarge the facilities at
/ the Pearl Eagan home, now known as
the West Florida Receiving Home, so
the home could accommodate SO chill
dren instead of the dozen or more that
the home had usually cared for, and
because there We're only a few hundred
| dollars in the treasury of the Pearl
Egan home fund the state society con-
tributed over $4,000 to make the nee
essary alterations and repairs. The
home was painted inside and out and
made ready for the enlarged WORK..
The paint for the exterior was fur
nished without cost through the kind
ness Of Capt. /. H. Aiken, an entnu-
siastic supporter of the work and a
] member of the board of directors
MANY new cots and special baby
cribs were secured-together with
other necessary equipment, to provide
for the comfort and happiness of many
homeless children through many years
One of the articles of equipment was
fine new refrigerator which was gem
erously provided by the president of
the West Florida branch, L. Hilton
Green, through whose continued IN
terest and effort very largely the ar
rangement to enlarge and take over
the Pearl Eagan home was made.
when the Childrens Home Society
took charge of the West Florida
branch a year ago, there were fifteen
children in* the home. Five of these
were being cared for. just temporarily,
by the American Red Cross, until
they could devise some permanent plan
for their care. The other ten children
had been wards of the Pearl Eagan
home for many years-some for as
-
children were legal wards of the home,
however, therefore of course the home
could not place, them out for adop-
ton.
arrangements We're made at once
to secure the legal custody of these
ten children-so that instead of keep
ing them for perhaps many more
years, they could be placed out IN
carefully selected family homes. 1t
took some weeks to finish all the
necessary court orders, but finally all
these children We're legally committed
to the Childrens Home Society of
Florida, and the work of placing each
of these fine little youngsters in ex-
actly the right home for each child,
was begun.
During the year all ten of these
children, who had been inmates of
the Pearl Eagan home so long-left
the home to go out to good family
homes of love, care. education and OPP
portunity.
Exactly ESQ schildren-homeless,
orphan, abused. afflicted. abandoned,
neglected and needy children, from al
portions of West Florida, have receiv-
ed the aid, care and attention of the
West Florida branch, DUNG the year
from June Is, 1920, to June Is, 1921.
"One of the most important SER
vices that has been rendered during
the year, was the care of 16 children
for poor widowed mothers who other
wise would have been obliged to give
up their children permanently. These
mothers have been permitted to pay a
small amount, whatever they Wee
able to pay, toward the cost of the
care of their children, and many have