Longtime Baptist John Haymes Mills dreamed of establishing an orphanage North Carolina Baptists could call their own. The dream became a reality on November 11, 1885 when nine-year-old Mary Presson and her mother stepped off a train in the small community of Thomasville. Greeted by Mills, little Mary became the first child accepted into care and her mother the first “matron”. It was that day the Thomasville Orphanage, as it was known then, was born.

 

Throughout the decades, the needs of children and families changed. Society saw less true orphans and more of what are called “orphans of the living” – children who have been neglected, abused and/or abandoned by their families. The ministry also expanded its physical locations into other communities throughout the state. To reflect the changes, the Thomasville Orphanage was renamed Mills Home in memory of its founder. The organizational name officially became the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina in 1956.

 

What began as a single location in Thomasville has grown into “many ministries beating with one heart” with dozens of locations established throughout. NC, SC and beyond.