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DePelchin Children’s Center, founded in 1892 in Houston, Texas, is a nonprofit provider of children’s mental health, prevention and early intervention, and child welfare services. DePelchin helps more than 20,000 children and their families each year〔(''Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 107th Congress'' ), Second Session, Volume 148, Part 4, April 11, 2002-April 24, 2002, pp. 4923.〕 through a range of services including counseling, psychiatry, residential treatment, at-risk programs, and parent education in addition to foster care and adoption. As one of the largest centers of its kind in Houston, DePelchin coordinates over thirty different programs for children and their families at schools, community sites, and in-home as well as at DePelchin's main Memorial campus and five satellite offices. The center continues to be recognized at the state and federal level for cutting-edge programs, including a federal grant as a leading child trauma expert in Texas.〔(''Impact'' ), Summer 2010, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Retrieved 2010-07-08.〕〔("Organizational Members" ), National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Retrieved 2010-07-08.〕 The former campus for DePelchin Children’s Center at 2700 Albany Street is designated as a City of Houston Landmark 〔("Current Listing of Designed Landmarks and Protected Landmarks and Sites within Designed Historic Districts" ), City of Houston, Retrieved 2010-06-17.〕 and Texas Historic Landmark.〔("Atlas" ), Texas Historical Commission, Retrieved 2010-06-16.〕 It is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.〔("Texas-Harris County" ), National Register of Historic Places, Retrieved 2010-07-08.〕 The institution, which was founded by Kezia Payne DePelchin primarily as an orphanage for young children, quickly grew to include other services. Since its inception in 1892, DePelchin Children’s Center has expanded its facilities and operations in order to offer even more services to the families of Houston. ==Founder== The institution today known as DePelchin Children’s Center was founded by Kezia Payne DePelchin in 1892. DePelchin was born in the Madeira Islands of Portugal on July 23, 1828, to Catherine and Abraham Payne.〔Matthews, Harold (1942), ''Candle by Night'', Bruce Humphries Inc., p. 16.〕 However, her tombstone at Forest Park Cemetery in Houston states that she was born in 1831.〔("Kezia 'Kate' Payne DePelchin" ), Find a Grave, Retrieved 2010-07-21.〕 Kezia had one brother, Benjamin, and three sisters, Frances, Sarah, and Catherine. After the elder Catherine died in 1833, Abraham decided to move his family to America.〔Matthews, Harold (1942), ''Candle by Night'', Bruce Humphries Inc., p.19.〕 In late 1836, Hannah Bainton, the children’s governess, accompanied the children during their move to the United States while Abraham stayed behind in Madeira to complete unfinished business. The family ultimately found its way to Galveston, Texas, in 1837. A yellow fever outbreak swept through Galveston in 1839 soon after Abraham arrived. Prior to Abraham's arrival, Sarah and Frances had already returned to Madeira to stay with other relatives.〔Matthews, Harold (1942), ''Candle by Night'', Bruce Humphries Inc., p. 23.〕 The remaining family was afflicted with the fever; Kezia, Hannah, and Abraham were the only members of the family to survive the outbreak. Though he initially survived, Abraham was severely weakened by the illness and, as an indirect result of the fever, died June 11, 1840. In the late summer of 1841, Kezia and Hannah moved to Houston to make a fresh start. During her first years in Houston, Kezia worked as a music teacher. She would be hired in 1877 to teach in Houston’s first public schools.〔Chapman, Betty T.,("Plight of homeless children inspired haven built on faith" ), ''Houston Business Journal'', May 21, 2010.〕 On August 23, 1862, Kezia Payne married a musician, Adolf DePelchin. Within a year, Kezia could not endure Adolf’s financial recklessness any longer and the two parted ways; however, they never legally divorced.〔Matthews, Harold (1942), ''Candle by Night'', Bruce Humphries Inc., p. 69.〕 With her acquired immunity to yellow fever, Kezia Payne DePelchin nursed the victims of the disease during the epidemics that struck Houston and also traveled to aid yellow fever victims in cities as far away as Memphis, Tennessee, and Senatobia, Mississippi, between 1878 and 1879. When DePelchin returned to Houston, she became the first female matron of Bayland Orphans’ Home for Boys, which cared for young boys between the ages of six and twelve. In 1892, when DePelchin was approached with three orphan boys too young to be taken in by Bayland, she asked her friend Agnes Perry to open up a room in her house to care for the three boys.〔Matthews, Harold (1942), ''Candle by Night'', Bruce Humphries Inc., p. 222.〕 This small act effectively created the institution today known as DePelchin Children’s Center. The number of children being taken in by DePelchin grew, and the institution moved to larger buildings to accommodate the additional children. Within a year of founding her Faith Home, DePelchin died on January 13, 1893, at the age of 64, from a bout of pneumonia she contracted while walking the five miles (8 km) between Bayland Orphans’ Home and her Faith Home.〔Matthews, Harold (1942), ''Candle by Night'', Bruce Humphries Inc., p. 224.〕 DePelchin often opted for this walk instead of riding a carriage in order to save a nickel that could be spent on the children. To carry on her work, DePelchin’s friends and family secured a charter on March 24, 1893, to incorporate DePelchin Faith Home officially.〔("About DePelchin" ), DePelchin Children's Center, Retrieved 2010-07-19.〕 When asked what DePelchin would call her institution, she responded, "I suppose I will have to call it my 'faith home.' I'm entirely dependent on my faith in God and the good people of Houston to support it."〔Matthews, Harold (1942), ''Candle by Night'', Bruce Humphries Inc., p. 226.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「DePelchin Children's Center」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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