A BRAVE PAST – THE HISTORY OF GATEWAYS for Youth & Families

To understand why we do things the way we do, you have to understand the historical context of our programs and services. We’ve grown up with the pioneers who settled the Western Coast of the United States of America. Our world view is colored by their legacy and values. We incorporate those things into everything we do, from the way we support the charity to the goals we set and the outcomes we desire for our clients, students and personnel.

The history of GATEWAYS for Youth & Families is a story of a charity struggling to survive against the backdrop of poverty, disease, wars, floods and fires. It is the story of a social services agency that has taken on the toughest young members of society when others despaired to find a way to reach them, heal them or help them.

Despite barriers and challenges, from the days of the Woman’s Lend-a-Hand League to the present state of affairs of what is now called GATEWAYS for Youth & Families, the spirit of this charity has managed to be a stabilizing factor and positive influence in our community. We have faced near bankruptcy once each generation, and yet we’ve now survived through five generations, adapting to the changing environment while remaining true to our history and our mission. From 2007 Annual Report GYF

We were founded by the mothers, wives and sisters of the families who founded Tacoma, Washington at a time when it was the gritty scene of budding industry and commerce on the tough Western Frontier. The Woman’s Lend-a-Hand League was organized February 4, 1890 at a meeting held at the old Fannie Paddock Hospital (now the Tacoma General) then located in Old Town (Tacoma).” ...There were fifty charter members in the group, in 1891 the charity was incorporated and the scope of work broadened to include young working women. The first President was Mrs. E.F. Miles, who was the wife of the Superintendent of the hospital. The first Board of Managers included four representatives from each of the more prominent churches in town... The Children’s Industrial Home orphanage went without furniture for a long time after it was built. It survived two depressions, but our founders had to mortgage the first property we owned and lost it in foreclosure. After a diphtheria epidemic broke out and all 38 children contracted it, the furnishings had to be burned. There was no money in the treasury to replace them. In 1904, the Home moved to 30th & Washington streets, but a boiler explosion took down the main hall on the campus in 1944. We rebuilt in 1950, only to have the building burn to the ground again a half-century later....

The Orphan Trains

GATEWAYS for Youth and Families links its beginnings back to the Orphan Train movement of the mid-19th century and the difficulties that came with settling the rough frontier towns of the Northwest and early industrial ventures of the Pacific Coast. Orphans ... Foundlings ... Waifs ... Half-orphans ... Street Arabs ... Street Urchins ... all were terms use to describe the children who rode the Orphan Trains. When the Orphan Train movement began in the mid-19th century, it was estimated that approximately 30,000 abandoned children were living on the streets of New York. Over the 75-year span of the Orphan Train movement, it is estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 children were relocated to new homes via the Orphan Trains.

The term "orphan" is used loosely in many cases. Some children were true orphans with no parents or other family members to look after them. Thus, they were living on the streets, sleeping in doorways and fending for themselves by whatever means necessary. However, many of these children had parents. Some were half-orphans, meaning that one parent had died and the remaining parent could not care for them, so they were placed in an orphanage. Some children still had both parents but were merely turned loose because the family had grown too large and the parents couldn't care for all of the children. Some were runaways from abuse, drunkenness and other dire situations.

In response, Reverend Brace with the Children's Aid Society and Sister Irene with the New York Foundling Hospital started the Orphan Trains. Brace developed what he called "the family plan." This meant that a child should be taken into a home and treated as part of the family. He expected the adoptive families to provide for the orphans with the same food, clothing, education, spiritual training and other necessities that they would for their biological children. Sometimes this happened, sometimes it didn't. Even so, Brace felt these orphans had a better chance at life with placement in a new home out west than they did remaining on the streets of New York.

Shortly before the day of departure, often just the night before, the children would be told that they were going on the train, and they would be bathed, given new, clean clothing and their hair was tended to. Upon arrival in one of the scheduled towns, they would disembark and go to a central public location, perhaps the local opera house, town hall or a local church, and be lined up on a stage or platform at the front of the room. Usually, a local town committee had been at work prior to the arrival of the train trying to line up good potential families for the expected children. At this time, members of the community would be allowed to visit with and inspect the children. If a match was made between adult and child and the local committee and placing agents were in agreement, then the child would leave the group and go on to his or her new home.

Often brothers and sisters were separated by the adoption process, sometimes never to see each other again.

The Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul created the Catholic Charities of New York in 1869. Through the New York Foundling Hospital, they took in abandoned babies. In the foyer of their building stood a white cradle where mothers could anonymously leave their children to be cared for by the sisters. It wasn't long before there were more children than they could adequately care for. It was this abundance of children that began the Foundling Hospital's "mercy trains," also known as "baby trains." The sisters worked in conjunction with priests throughout the Midwest and South in an effort to place these children in Catholic families.

For those children who were not adopted by a family along the train route, their train ride ended in Tacoma.

Children's Industrial Home

In 1877, economic opportunities and greater prominence came to Tacoma with the completion of the Stampede Pass Tunnel. No one had really known where the transcontinental terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad would end until the tracks from the pass were laid southwest and into Commencement Bay. With this connection to the eastern markets and the advent of the powerful steam engines used in logging operations, Tacoma had all the ingredients for economic growth and success.

The rapid growth in Tacoma also brought a new population of people, both individuals and families, looking for jobs and opportunities. Many came with few social ties, no money and no resources of any kind. When these "working poor" found themselves out of work or ill, they could not take care of themselves, let alone their children.

In early 1890, Tacoma was still a frontier town, but it was also becoming a modern town full of new business enterprises, hotels, restaurants, bars and even an opera house. Tacoma had a number of civic institutions, usually founded by the wives of the new entrepreneurs. Tacoma had found new prosperity and its resident used their resources to imprint a mark of American civility on their town.

In the winter of 1890, a group of women concerned about area children and their welfare met at the Fannie Paddock Hospital. Many of them came from the new mansions that had sprouted up on the hill between what was even then becoming known as "Old Town" and New Tacoma.

Calling themselves the Women's Lend-A-Hand League, they formed an organization whose aim was to find "friendless children who are orphans, destitute and ill-treated, receive them into legal custody and care for them," until they could be place into approved and suitable homes or legally adopted.

This was the beginning of the Children's Industrial Home. The first home was built in Tacoma's North End, at the corner of North 12th and Oakes. The building cost $11,000 and was built on five lots donated by Stuart Rice, Isaac Anderson, Joseph Buckley, Joseph Houghton and T.B. Wallace. Every church in Tacoma volunteered to furnish a room of the simple frame, three-story house. The whole community was very proud of the endeavor--it was a fine place to save the "waifs" of The City of Destiny, whose population by 1892 was 36,006 people.

At the turn of the century, the Women's League became aware of the need for more housing than was available at the North end home. The diphtheria epidemic of 1898 had left a large number of children homeless by the deaths of one or both parents. At the orphanage, all 38 children contracted the disease. One died. All the furnishings had to be burned, leaving the building empty.

As usual, the citizens of Tacoma contributed generously, but it still wasn't enough--there was serious concern about generating enough funding to support the project. The cost at that time was about $5,000 annually. The operations continued with the money raised, but the charity faced its first near-fatal crisis, as the Children’s Industrial Home was bankrupt and not able to pay the mortgage on the orphanage. The building was lost to foreclosure.

The saving grace came from an unexpected source - a life-long bachelor, Peter Irving, bequeathed the amount of $5,000 to augment the Woman’s Lend-A-Hand League fundraising efforts (a charity ball which raised a sum of $2,000). In 1904, property at South 30th and Washington was purchased from Fannie M. Ball for $7,500. The new Children's Industrial Home, or "Home on the Hill" as it became known, was much bigger than the previous facility. It consisted of roughly six acres of land with orchards and a 24-room, three-story mansion suitable for up to thirty children.

The nursery, gymnasium, school and clinic for children and infants at the Ball Mansion site wasn’t the only program run by Children’s Industrial Home. In the late 1920’s, it became obvious that children aging out of the Home needed a place to go where they could learn a trade, get an education and become independent citizens. The Girls Club of over 14 year olds was founded for young ladies, and the Boys Ranch for young men added to the mission. Long time residents of the Puget Sound area may recognize other names and other programs, such as Forrest Ridge, Safe Place Resource Center for homeless teens, the Wilson Center, Youth Inc., and Puget Sound Center.

After many years of successful operations at the new location, a "terrible miracle" as it became known, happened on the evening of September 24, 1944. That evening at approximately 8:40 p.m., the lives of 45 children and four adults nearly ended when a massive furnace explosion ripped through the house. Luckily the explosion killed no one, and none of the children, most of them ages 7 to 13, suffered any significant injuries. While fortunate to avoid any deaths, the explosion did cause the eventual destruction of the old home. Three days after the explosion, insurance adjustors declared the home a "total wreck" as a result of the explosion.

To continue its mission to care for children in need, a more modern, rambler-style home was built on the existing property and opened in September of 1951.

Jessie Dyslin Ranch

In 1925, Mrs. Jessie Dyslin presented a 15-acre ranch and a $3,000 gift to the board. The property and funding were to be used for a new home for boys who were too old for the Children's Industrial Home in Tacoma. As a result, the Jessie Dyslin Ranch was established. Two boys, who were former residents at the Children's Industrial Home, became the first residents of the ranch in June 1926. The boys at the ranch worked the farm by picking berries, hoeing, raking, weeding and growing vegetables. The boys were paid for their work and charged a very small sum for their board and lodging. Residents of the ranch were encouraged to earn their high school diplomas and pursue higher education as well. With only a three-room cottage in its early years, the number of building at the ranch grew to include a barn and a new dormitory thanks to generous donations from the community. The ranch also grew with the addition of acreage, enabling the creation of new gardens and an orchard. Even during the Great Depression, the community still offered support with women doing sewing and mending for the boys and men offering the boys their companionship.

The boys were active at the ranch and in the community as well, participating in their school's extra-curricular activities, Boy Scouts, the YMCA and church. With the emphasis on education, many boys who had struggled with school in the past began to experience great success. The boys were listed on the honor roll, elected as student government officers and given other awards. Many of the boys went on the become model citizens as adults. Some things remain the same.

The children who need us the most still find their way here.

They still come to us through social workers, the courts, teachers, school counselors, family members and friends. We still have wildlife, berry bushes, fruit trees, natural wetlands, classrooms and indoor spaces designed to serve the needs and interests of young people. We still plant vegetable gardens in the spring and harvest apples in the fall.

We still help kids do their homework and still try to teach them our core values, as well as live by them. We are still a safe home for teens needing our support and understanding.

Most importantly, what we do here is intended to be transformative. We connect people to relationships that reinforce the values we teach, with the environment, with community, mentors and peers, and to opportunities for personal success by creatively exploring interests and ideas and learning new skills. Something as simple as a game of tug-of-war, a puzzle or the completion of a homework assignment can be transformative, if we seek the teaching moment. Bigger challenges, like building a boat, learning a dance step, growing a garden, raising a teepee or riding a horse are ripe with those teaching opportunities.

Sometimes what we do is so normal, we forget that it is intentional. We’ve been raising kids for over a century, giving them a foundation of earned responsibility, the kind that leads to a sense of morality, self-respect and self-worth.

Opening new paths: GATEWAYS today

In 1995, the Children's Industrial Home became GATEWAYS for Youth and Families. The new name was created to better describe how our services have evolved into something far greater than the original orphanage. Today, as a gateway, we provide access to a variety of programs that empower youth and families to get support, learn new skills and become positive citizens in the community. At GATEWAYS, we continue to open new paths to tomorrow for youth and families in the Puget Sound region. We invite you to join with us as we work to continue shaping young lives by discovering new areas of need today in our community and developing programs to meet those needs.

We encourage children to grow mentally, physically and spiritually, but GATEWAYS is a secular agency, meaning children are provided the means to grow but are supported in their personal, individual and cultural heritage.

GATEWAYS for Youth & Families does not discriminate and does not preach or instruct clients on religious dogma or ideology. We recognize that there is value in promoting the development of a moral and spiritual core, but we are not a religious organization. We teach a deep respect for the land and stewardship of the planet. We instruct on the cultural history of the region and its native populations, as well as the cultural history of the people who have settled here in the past 200 years. We support diversity and religious freedom.

As a member of the GATEWAYS for Youth & Families counseling team, you will need to become familiar with certain counseling philosophies, and understand the nexus between our programs, counseling techniques and the core values we have been empowered to teach.

How we got from our core values to adopting the actual counseling techniques and GATEWAYS therapeutic model isn’t surprising. The techniques we adopted are consistent with the methods we’ve always used and the heritage of our organization. We utilize Dialectic Behavioral Therapy in treatment and in youth development activities, and have adopted the concepts as our primary model; however, we adapt and use other cognitive and behavioral therapies and youth development activities, art, music, dance, craft, dramatic play, leadership and life skills development, and recreation. We are constantly working on building relationships, self-esteem and a sense of responsibility. We expose children to challenges and experiences designed to help them grow into caring, healthy, satisfied and productive adults. That’s always been our goal and our methods haven’t really changed much over time.