The Early Days: A Refuge For Unwed Mothers

Providence Place, which opened its doors in 1895 and quickly outgrew three other locations, built its 25-acre campus in northwest San Antonio in 1968. We have a long and transformative history that few other non-profits share. During the course of our journey, we have had to make changes in the way we perceive and adapt to the subject of adoption. In those days, it was the mentality that young expectant mothers could be spirited away to have their babies, place them for adoption and return to their normal lives – high school, college, work – as if nothing had happened. For would-be parents who couldn’t conceive, it was a godsend – they could have a family at last. Up through the mid-1970s, this model worked. Every year, hundreds of girls from all over Texas came to Methodist Mission Home, as we were then known, and adoptive parents went home proudly with a new family member. The trend toward open adoptions made ongoing relationships between birth mothers and adoptive parents a reality. These and other social changes meant far less stigma about pregnancies outside marriage. With safer medical practices for abortions and accessibility to birth control, young women had more control over their lives – and their pregnancies. The drastic drop in birth mothers allowed us as an organization to find new purpose and to adapt in order to help others where the need is great.

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Our foundational belief is that all people are created in God’s image and, therefore, are valuable and full of potential. As a result:

• We honor the sacredness of life.

• We see the dignity of every person and serve with love, compassion, and hope.

• We seek just solutions that free, heal, and restore those who are hurting.

• We recognize that families are diverse, yet fundamental to personal well-being and to healthy and prosperous communities.