Crittenton, Inc. is a nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts whose mission is to help young people develop the essential tools they need to maintain stable housing, find and retain jobs, and support the health of their family growth.
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Overview
Crittenton, Inc. was the result of a merger between two pioneers of women's rights societies in the late nineteenth century; Boston Female Moral Reform Society and Florence Crittenton Home. Both organizations share a common goal in helping poor and unmarried mothers and ultimately work together to help these women achieve economic independence.
The New England Moral Reform Society
Originally Boston Female Moral Reform Society, the organization was founded in 1824, when a group of women gathered to provide protection and moral guidance to troubled young girls. Since the organization has no buildings, members of the Institute bring unmarried young mothers into their own homes. His peers were shocked, and several ministers criticized them for being "indecent" and for being brave in the face of an unpleasant life.
Over the next 45 years, the Society grew because it concentrated efforts to save young women from the streets and continue the crusade against liquor and prostitution. In 1869, the organization was renamed the New England Moral Reform Society and established a maternity hospital and hospital in the Boston Jamaica Plain neighborhood. That same year, Dr. Caroline Hastings, a physician and vocal supporter of women's equality, managed to redirect the Society's energy to found Talitha Cumi's House, a maternity home for unmarried mothers. The house was renamed The Hastings House to honor Dr. Hastings. When the New England Moral Reform Society continued its efforts, a similar organization, Florence Crittenton Home, appeared in Boston in the 1890s.
Florence Crittenton Home
Charles Crittenton, a wealthy pharmaceutical wholesaler, founded Florence Crittenton Homes that provides shelter and moral guidance for poor and unmarried mothers. He founded a mission for young girls, and in the mid-1890s, his vision of a network of more than 50 Florence Crittenton Homes across the country came true.
Boston's Florence Crittenton Home shares many of the same goals as the New England Moral Reform Society. It targeted prostitution and joined the Boston police to help seal the city's "chaotic houses." In 1896, Boston Florence Crittenton Home was founded on 37 Green Street as a mission for unmarried moms. A network of Boston-area shelters soon followed, in Roxbury, Boston, Watertown, Massachusetts, Downtown Boston, and finally, on the site now in Brighton, Massachusetts. In 1908, the organization was renamed Florence Crittenton League of Compassion Inc.
In 1924, the Crittenton league secured six acres of land on 10 Perthshire Streets in Oak Square, Brighton, Massachusetts, after the old Peter Faneuil plantation and later, the Adams plantation. Harold Field Kellogg, a prominent architect at the time, designed the Crittenton Home and Hospital.
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Pursuing a Similar Goal
For the next 56 years, Hastings House and the Florence Crittenton League of Compassion Inc. operates in parallel missions. Both organizations provide housing and maternal and infant care and offer job training and educational programs that can help unmarried moms become independent.
In the 1930s, the Florence Crittenton League of Compassion Inc. formed a unit to treat sexually transmitted diseases and both organizations cope with the increasing demands sparked by the Great Depression. In the late 1930's also the Talitha Cumi House began reaching out to young fathers with a unique program designed to encourage strong family ties.
Merge 1961
In 1961, the two organizations merged into the Crittenton Hastings House of the Florence Crittenton League of Compassion, Inc., better known as Crittenton Hastings House or Crittenton, Inc., Inc.
In 1962, the first alternative high school at Boston Public Schools was founded in Crittenton, Inc. so young pregnant women can complete their high school education.
In 1973, opened the first licensed freestanding abortion clinic in Massachusetts, following the course of the Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade. The clinic opened in the midst of a major controversy, resulting in the dissolution of many volunteer groups and the loss of United Way funding. The 1980s and 1990s saw another change in Crittenton's emphasis. It demands a strong educational foundation as a prerequisite for economic independence and success, and starts helping young families at risk to achieve and sustain self-sufficiency.
Merger 2006
In 2006, Crittenton, Inc. and the Women's Education and Industry Union merged to form what is known today as the Crittenton Women's Union.
See also
- Women's Education and Industry Union
- Crittenton Women's Union
References
- Notes
- References
External links
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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