Providing love, care, and hope in Christ for children and families has been the heart and mission of the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries for 125 years.

From Pastor William Cooksey’s compassionate vision to start an orphanage in 1899, to the first donation of a silver dollar by fourteen-year-old Jim Bowen, Louisiana Baptists have continued their time-honored commitment of meeting needs and changing lives through the Christ-centered ministries of their Children’s Home.

Beginning as the Louisiana Baptist Orphanage, our first matron, Mrs. Kate Hawkins, cared for three little girls in a borrowed Keatchie College building in 1900. In 1903, we settled into our first permanent facility in Lake Charles. In 1925, under the visionary leadership of Frank "Daddy" Flowers, we moved to our current Monroe campus, chartered a new name, Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home, and developed a new and innovative approach to childcare ministry.

We have responded to the emerging needs of our society and transitioned from a self-contained orphanage to the Christ-centered, family-focused services of today. And we honor our past while celebrating our present and planning for the future. We recognize and express gratitude to our staff members who serve children and families daily, our friends who offer prayers and financial support, and the “great cloud of witnesses” who have gone before us.

As we celebrate our 125th anniversary, we celebrate God’s goodness and His faithful provision and protection. Through the Mississippi River flood, the stock market crash and the Great Depression, two world wars, fires, hurricanes, and tornadoes, God’s sufficient grace and the sacrificial giving of Louisiana Baptists and friends have sustained us. We remain strong in demonstrating Christ’s unconditional love to children and families in crisis.