|
|
History
|
 St. Rose Youth & Family Center, founded in 1848, is the oldest social service agency in Wisconsin.
In 1848, many immigrants made the perilous journey across the Atlantic to the United States. Many did not survive this journey, while others arrived very sick. While caring for the newly arrived immigrants, Rev. Peter McLaughlin came upon a seriously ill couple from Ireland.
The parents dying request was that Rev. McLaughlin promise to care for their four-year-old daughter, Katie Colfer. Rev. McLaughlin made that promise and then entrusted Katie's care to the Daughters of Charity. Katie's stay with the Daughters of Charity was the beginning St.
Rose Residence.
By 1850, there were 33 girls in the care of the sisters. In 1853, the St. Rose Orphan Asylum, as it was called moved into a two-story building on Jackson Street. It was complete with dormitories, kitchen, schoolroom, dining hall and wash room. It would serve as home for the
girls for the next 35 years. In April 1888 a new orphanage building was completed at 2321 North Lake Drive.
Occupying three-and-a-half acres close to Lake Michigan, a better location for the care and nurturing of girls could not have been found. This was our home for the next 85 years.
It provided a comfortable environment and offered excellent medical care through St. Mary's Hospital, operated by the Daughters of Charity. During the decade of 1900-1910, there was an average population of 166 girls at the facility.
 As times changed, so did St. Rose. During the 30's and 40's, many of the girls began to attend area parochial and public schools. And in
the early 1950s, nearly 70 years of dormitory-style living and eating in a central dining room came to an end when renovations converted the old building into four separate apartments. The new arrangement enabled girls to live in a more "homelike" environment.
Over the first 100 years, most of the girls cared for at St. Rose were orphans, or missing one or both parents. By the 1950s, girls coming to St. Rose were more troubled than their predecessors. The sisters, staff and board members realized that St. Rose had to provide professional
services and counseling.
During the 1960s and early 70s, St. Rose went through a significant change. There was a much greater reliance on lay professional staff to care for the girls and provide therapeutic services. The Daughters of Charity diminished in numbers, both in Milwaukee and across the country.
A Director of Treatment Services, added in 1969, developed a psychotherapeutic residential and educational program. Minorities and men were now being hired for all positions, presenting a more diverse experience for the girls.
In 1972, the Board of Directors decided that due to the greater reliance on government funding, the best way to meet our mission would be by becoming an independent, nonsectarian, nonprofit organization separate from the diocese. Then in 1973, a new building was built offering
a modern facility to implement the residential treatment program at our current location at 3801 North 88th Street.
|
|
