Bashor Children’s Home celebrates a century of service

GOSHEN, Ind. (WNDU) - A celebration a long time in the making, as hundreds of supporters toured Bashor Children’s Home to celebrate its one-hundredth anniversary.

“We’re celebrating one hundred years of Bashor Children’s Home, says Bishop Julius C. Trimble, Resident Bishop for the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church (INUMC). “One hundred years of caring for kids that some people might say are the hardest to care for. We believe in the United Methodist Church and here at Bashor that no kids are throw away kids. Nobody has been through so much that they can’t be helped.”

The children in their care cannot be filmed due to privacy and safety concerns, but this faith-based children’s welfare agency has served over 1400 children in the last year alone and over 15,000 kids since its inception.

“You’re talking about helping generations, and not only helping children but helping society, helping families, saving the lives of children,” Trimble said. “So, 100 years of uninterrupted service to children and young people is really something worth celebrating.”

Bashor Home’s staff of 180 people includes teachers, counselors, medical professionals, and behavioral specialists.

This allows them to provide numerous services to children who are or have experienced various types of abuse, trauma, and behavioral challenges.

“People who work at Bashor want to work at Bashor,” Trimble said. “The people who care about children are people who feel called to this. They deserve to be paid, obviously, and deserve to be paid a living wage, but many of the folks who work here have worked here for many years.”

As part of their celebration and worship service, they had a special guest, United Methodist Church Bishop Julius C. Trimble, who traveled from Indianapolis to spend time with the children and hear their stories.

“Well, it was really precious time,” Trimble said. “I don’t want to share any confidential information that was shared by the children, other than they expressed hope for their futures and hope that Bashor Children’s Home would continue to be here to serve children who may come after they’ve gone. We all have our stories, and these young people have stories, and some of them are probably very challenging stories to most of us if we knew their stories, but they feel cared for, and many feel confident that they have a brighter future. The things that may have brought them here, they can continue their education, learn, and prepare themselves to become young adults and adults in society. That’s the goal.”

The 160-acre campus continues to receive upgrades, as just last year, they built a $7.3 million-dollar secure facility that provides care for young girls who have been rescued from human trafficking.

“I think people should really check out Bashor Children’s Home and say, what exactly are they doing there, and is this something worthy of my support,” Trimble asked. “I think they’ll come to the conclusion that if I care about children, then I ought to care about Bashor Children’s Home.

The property was formerly a farmhouse owned by John and Emaline Bashor. They donated the land to the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was turned into an all-boys orphanage. In 1974, they started admitting girls into residential care.

Bashor Children’s Home is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit associated with the United Methodist Church. They serve children from over 20 Indiana counties, including St. Joseph County.

Bashor Childen’s Home operates with an annual budget of $12 million.

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