What Would Happen if the Noyes Home Didn’t Exist? Without the open doors of the Noyes Home, now open to children ages 0 to 18 years, many children would live in extreme poverty, neglect, food insecurity or homelessness. Whether it’s for a few weeks or several months, many adults who came to the Noyes Home this way say it was a bright spot of hope and a place to prepare that changed their lives permanently.
- Many times, the Noyes Home is a first experience for a child of a positive learning environment, a bed of their own, and regular, nutritious meals.
- Frequent moves are typical for children living in insecure environments, which contributes to serious challenges at school and can have lifelong effects. The Noyes Home provides a consistent, stable environment for school and help with homework.
- There is currently no other resource quite like the Noyes Home for a family facing problems like illness, joblessness or homelessness. The needs of each family are unique. For example, the Noyes Home receives requests to help children from single parents trying to get back on their feet, as well as from parents who need help providing a home for the children while they transitions into a new living situation or a new job. The Noyes Home has been there with an open door for hundreds of families since 1894.
- A parent can walk in day or night to the Crisis Nursery, seven days a week, with “no strings attached.” This provides immediate safety for the child, and allows the parent a chance to talk with Noyes Home team members about next steps. Without this resource, the chances are higher that more children will face serious neglect, abuse – a reality reflected by Buchanan County’s high infant mortality rate.
- While the Noyes Home is not a “scared straight” environment, nor is it designed to function as a place to correct discipline problems, many children who come there have behavioral problems at home and at school. The Noyes Home provides respite, counseling and support for a return to successful home and school life.
- For children awaiting a transition between foster homes, or entrance into the foster home system, the Noyes Home provides stability, encouragement and self-confidence as the child prepares for this life stage.
In 2011, the Noyes Home admitted 126 children, and served 138 in total. Of these, 130 children were discharged to return to their typical living environment. The greatest number of admission in 2011 were related to a child’s need for emergency shelter, due to homelessness, poverty or a parent crisis.
– Children ages 0-18 who live in extreme poverty or neglect
– Children needing emergency shelter due to homelessness
– Children awaiting foster placement
– Teens or youth who are struggling at home or school
– Dads facing joblessness … mothers facing evictions
– Average age is 12 years old
Why is the need so great in Buchanan County? Currently, the rates of infant and child fatalities are higher in Buchanan County than other counties in the state, as is the rate of child abuse and neglect. The Noyes Home reflects the critical need for safe emergency shelter for infants and very young children.
