Southmountain
was founded in 1903 in rural Rutherford County, NC by Emily Pruden as Golden
Industrial Institute and is one of only two remaining institutions started by
her, (the other being Phieffer College). Miss Emily founded the Institute to
provide basic education and industrial skills to the children of rural
Rutherford, McDowell, and Burke counties. However, during the era of the Great
Depression, the focus of the Institute changed to that of an orphanage to
provide care for children who had either lost their parents or whose parents
could not afford to care for them. About the same time, the name of the
Institute was changed to "Southmountain" to reflect the beautiful mountain range
surrounding its location. Poor facilities and overcrowded conditions soon
required the agency to look for a more appropriate location and, in 1935, the
agency moved to its present home near Lake James, in Western Burke County, NC.
While our location has stayed the same since 1935, our programs of care and our
facilities have continued to develop to meet the ever-increasing needs of our
changing society.
Over the last few decades, we have seen a dramatic increase in the numbers of
children coming into care from extremely violent home situations; most have been
severely physically, sexually, and emotionally abused and scarred. With these
children as our main population, our overall goal is to begin a healing process
for them in a loving environment supported by a wide array of self-esteem
building, remedial education, and life skills enhancement programs. In addition,
we provide services to families to facilitate reunification or adoption whenever
possible. We also provide services geared towards child advocacy and child abuse
prevention including child abuse investigation and intervention coordination.
You Can Make a Difference in
a Child's Life!
Southmountain Children and Family Services
7330 Myrtle Drive Nebo,
NC 28761
828-584-1105
|
