A Caring Community for Generations

Nestled on the rural coastal plains of southeastern North Carolina, historic Columbus County is home to several special places. Among these special places are Lake Waccamaw, the state’s largest natural lake at nearly 9,000 acres, a small town of the same name with a population of approximately 1,400 permanent residents, and a special place dedicated to caring for children, youth, and families named Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina (BGHNC).

In 1954, leaders of area civic organizations around nearby Whiteville, North Carolina banded together to open Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina (known then simply as “Boys Home”) as a safe place for young children whose parents and close family members became unable to provide care for them, or who were victims of physical or sexual abuse, or other circumstances that endangered their health and well-being.

Over seven decades, Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina has continued to respond to ensure the safety and well-being of children in crisis following physical and sexual abuse, neglect, severe family dysfunction or tragedy. In these cases, BGHNC works to place victimized children into safe, caring environments and to offer on-going care, medical and mental health treatment, and other supports. In these dire circumstances, the organization works to ensure availability for short-term or longer-term care of children as needed for their protection and well-being.

Convincing evidence gathered from numerous well-researched studies show that children and youth achieve the best long-term physical and mental, social and educational outcomes when families remain intact. Today, with this knowledge in hand, BGHNC offers programs and services designed to help prevent abuse, neglect and dysfunction by supporting families through the sometimes overwhelming pressures of difficult economic, health and well-being challenges.

“We are always trying to figure out the best practice research that we know of,” says Marc Murphy CEO/President. Today, the organization serves as the hub for comprehensive services and programs within a continuum of care that aim to meet the physical, emotional, mental, behavioral, social, educational and spiritual needs of children, youth and families in distress or at-risk.

“We have provided foster care for 25 years. Adoption for 20 years,” says Murphy. The organization’s foster care programs now support 108 children within 125 licensed homes across 14 North Carolina counties. Nearly 25% of these children are adopted by loving families.

With support from The Duke Endowment, the launch of the evidence-informed Success Coach program in 2020 marked another important evolutionary milestone for supports offered by the organization. The program provides guidance, resources, and coaching to the permanent families of children and youth returning from foster care to help prevent re-entry into foster care.

“The Success Coach program was designed to support families in which children are either coming back home after being in foster care or are at high risk of being taken out of the home,” says Aliza Blumstein, Director of the BGHNC Success Coach program.

Success Coach Jason Faina offers a glimpse into the day-to-day supports that are important components of support for many families participating in the program. “We help people with employment, budgeting, taking care of the kids’ needs, school, anything they need. It’s very specifically tailored to each family,” says Faina.

With the goal of supporting up to 80 families each year, the implementation of the Success Coach program is emblematic of strategic investments by The Duke Endowment and its grantee partners in proven, evidence-informed programs that help prevent or significantly reduce incidents of child abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction.

While efforts to provide care, safety, stability and support, programs like Success Coach add significantly to the tools and resources available to help organizations like Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina meet its ongoing mission. At the same time, these strategic investments by The Duke Endowment bolster fulfillment of the vision of James B. Duke for the care of children, youth, families, and their communities across both Carolinas, in new ways.

“The Duke Endowment is not just a funder. The Duke Endowment is also a friend. A lot of our success, a lot of our innovation, has been through [the Endowment] seeding ideas, helping us take ideas, and turn them into fruition, particularly in our rural counties of North Carolina,” says Murphy.

Learn more about Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina.