KidsPeace was born in the
Lehigh Valley more than 127 years ago as the Children’s Home of South Bethlehem
as a charity that served as home to children whose parents had succumbed to a
Smallpox epidemic. In 1943 the name became Wiley House. Over the years, the
non-profit organization introduced new services such as foster care, day
treatment, specialized schools and expanded to other states. With residential
centers in Maine, Minnesota and Georgia and foster care offices across the
country, KidsPeace has remained firmly rooted in the Lehigh Valley. In 1992,
leadership decided to change the name to KidsPeace, a brand name that could be
easily recognized around the country. We remain a private charitable
organization that was never purchased by a large, impersonal corporation. We were as important a part of the
community in 1882 as we are today.
Good Neighbors
The sense of community is
very strong within KidsPeace. Our associates live in the Lehigh Valley, and the
majority of the children we treat in PA our from local areas. We volunteer to
participate in walks for such causes as autism, ALS, autism and suicide
awareness, raising money for local charities through our efforts. Our
counselors instill a sense of giving back to the community in all of our
programs, taking them to help out with local food banks, book sales, church
programs, fundraisers for individuals in need, cleaning up public areas and
carrying parcels or discarded computers or other large pieces during town cleanup
days. The children make gifts and cards for military members stationed abroad,
visit with the elderly to brighten their days and entertain community members
with choirs, dance teams and theatrical performances.
The KidsPeace leadership
participates in the community to assist legislators draft bills and discuss
issues that are important to all children in Pennsylvania. Our associates speak
at meetings and events of importance to educators, parents and children, and
our emergency response team volunteers to counsel school children who have
suffered a trauma such as an accident that has killed a fellow student or an
act of violence that raises fear in children in teens.
Our annual soccer
tournament brings more than 4,000 players, families and spectators to the
Lehigh Valley for a weekend in August, offering great competitive sport. The
event also contributes to the economy of the area while raising funds for the
KidsPeace children. Many of our events are open to the public including our
KidsPeace Auxiliary Fashion Show, golf tournament, sporting clays day, autumn
ball and trainings. We publish a free award-winning publication called Healing
Magazine, which is released to
readers twice year. Our free website, www.TeenCentral.Net
is a wonderful anonymous source of advice from Master’s level counselors to
teens who have nowhere to turn and appreciate a safe place to “log on and work
it out.” TeenCentral.Net also provides visitors with news, celebrity stories,
obesity advice and recommended books.
What we Do
KidsPeace is headquartered
in Schnecksville, PA, and our largest campus is located across Route 309 on 255
acres of peaceful, wooded land that provides the children in our care with
space to play, explore and enjoy a beautiful natural setting. This beautiful
spot has become a vital location in the Lehigh Valley where neighbors and
friends visit to use the Olympic sized swimming pool, compete in our annual
soccer tournaments and attend fundraisers and celebrations of our efforts to
provide top services to our children.
The children we serve at
KidsPeace in the Lehigh Valley on both our Orchard Hills Campus and Broadway
Campus in Bethlehem are your neighbors, your children’s classmates, members of
your church and friends who have hit a rough patch and need some time in one of
our many programs to help them get back on track and deal with their issues
with the assistance of highly trained professionals. Our Orchard Hills Campus
is unique in the fact that we operate a 72 bed children’s psychiatric hospital
on the grounds that can accommodate the most acute mental health, behavior or
emotional issues and then place the child in a residential program to finish
the healing process. We also offer an array of community-based services around
the Lehigh Valley that work with children and their families to avoid
residential services or as step down from residential.
In Berks County, PA,
KidsPeace also has a campus that provides regular and special education as sell
as three levels of partial hospitalization that provide treatment as well as
classroom work that allows the children to keep up with their local school
work. The Berks Campus boasts an organic garden and a vermicomposting project
that recycles paper and food waste and composts it into rich soil for the
vegetable and flower gardens, which prove very therapeutic for the children who
work the beds.
KidsPeace has some 50
foster care and community programs (FCCP) around the country. Our associates
carefully match children and foster families to ensure a good fit and reduce
the number of placements in additional foster homes for the children whose
original placements do not work out. Our Pennsylvania offices also work with
the State adoption agency SWAN, as well as other agencies that arrange for
international adoptions. Visit http://www.kidspeace.org/Foster.aspx
for more information on our foster care and adoption services.
Education is a large part
of our work in the Lehigh Valley, and we have regular and special education
classrooms on the Orchard Hills and Bethlehem campuses for residential students
and children who attend partial hospitalization programs or who require
specialized classrooms with low student to teacher ratios.
KidsPeace is also a large
employer in the Lehigh Valley, and our associates live and shop and enjoy
themselves here. The organization supports the local economy by purchasing
local goods and utilizing local businesses to supply our campuses. We purchase
many of our consumables right here in the Lehigh Valley as well.
The next time you pass a
sign for KidsPeace or see one of vans transporting children around the Lehigh
Valley, think of us as a good neighbor and understand that our commitment and
ties to the children and families of the Lehigh Valley are strong and deeply
rooted.