Missions, Vision and History

Vision
It is Ward Home's mission to be the premier provider of programs to empower underserved youth to succeed independently.

Mission
Ward Home's mission is to train at risk young adults in parctical life skills in safe, nurturing environments in order to live independently as effective, contributing members of the community.

History of Ward Home
At the turn of the 20th century, Pittsburgh's growing steel industry called both mothers and fathers into the workforce. Young children were often left at home, to be cared for by disinterested older siblings or neighbors. A group of concerned Methodists recognized the need to act quickly; so they adopted bylaws and opened a Day Nursery on Pittsburgh's North Side. Within a short time, hundreds of children were being cared for each year.

It wasn't long before there was a need to provide overnight care for the children. A permanent building which could be used as a Day Nursery was the solution. Among those supporting the Day Nursery were Robert B. Ward and his wife Catherine. They recognized the importance of providing a home for the children of Pittsburgh.

Involved in the baking business started by his father, Robert's fortunes multiplied early with Ward's Bakeries. By the time of his death in 1915, Ward's will specified that a portion of his estate be set aside for charitable purposes. His widow chose to donate the family home near Schenley High School on Bigelow Street in Pittsburgh as a home for children, and an endowment followed. The residence was dedicated and named the Robert Boyd Ward Home for Children in January of 1918. Records show that almost 1,000 children passed through the doors of the home.

In 1955, Ward Home broke ground on a home on Moffett Street in Mt. Lebanon, a quiet, picturesque community in Pittsburgh's South Hills. Children at the home continued to be grade-school age throughout most of the 1960s. By 1970, an increasing number of teenagers were being placed at Ward Home, and the agency made changes to accommodate the special needs of this older population.

Recognizing that many children would never be reunited with their biological families, nor would they be adopted, Ward Home opened the Supervised Independent Living Program in 1987. By 1990, the residential program at Moffett Street closed as the children were moved to foster care or Ward Home's independent living programs.

Today, Ward Home maintains and operates three supervised independent living facilities for teen girls, teen boys and teen moms in Friendship, Wilkinsburg and East McKeesport. Ward Home also provides an in-home service through the Allegheny County Independent Living Project called Ward Independent Skills Enhancement (W.I.S.E.).