East Chicago, IN — Nazareth Home, a 24-hour group home for medically compromised babies and children has announced that it will be closing its doors after more than 25 years of service to Indiana children. Currently, there are no children living at Nazareth Home, and the organization will be officially closed on August 1, 2020.

Founded in 1993 by The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ to confront the growing problem of abused or abandoned children with unique medical needs, Nazareth Home has served 230 children from newborn to age six (6). Located in a quiet neighborhood in East Chicago, Indiana, children were placed at Nazareth Home through referrals from the Department of Child Services and received the spiritual, physical, and emotional care that is so essential to early childhood development in a home-setting.

In early 2018, Nazareth Home received its license to be a group home. That same year, the Federal Government passed a bill that included the Family First Act, which drastically reduced the number of foster children placed into group homes. As a result, Nazareth Home, like other group homes, has been facing low census the past several years to the point that in mid-July there were no children in the home.

“This is a sad time for all of us. We can take comfort, when we remember all the special children, over the past 25+ years, who have better lives because they received spiritual, emotional and physical care at Nazareth Home,” stated Sister Joetta Huelsmann, Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, Provincial.

A special closing ceremony will be held for the dedicated staff and volunteers.

Nazareth Home is a ministry of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ and administered by Ancilla Systems, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.