Pictured
Kat Berrier, President, and CEO
Jeff Bays, Director of Development
Celebrating your birthday, painting pictures, playing sports, shopping for clothes, and making friends are all rites of passage. Children at foster homes often do not experience all these, but at American Children’s Home (ACH) they do.
In 1925 ACH was built. They produced their own electricity and supplied part of their town, Lexington, electricity as well. In addition, they had a dairy farm, a full kitchen, auditorium, gym, a print shop and sewing shop. Every child had their own room and a den mother.
Now, in 2022 times have changed. The shops are no longer open, the electricity is no longer being produced by ACH and dairy farm is rented out. However, they have rooms with den mothers, a gym, an auditorium, playgrounds, and are in the process of building soccer and football facilities. The older children have jobs, and all the children have chores. And they have grown different branches other than foster care. One being Evans Child Development Center (ECDC), which is a daycare for lower income families.
Like ApSeed, ECDC “creates an environment where children play to learn…and parents are encouraged to participate in their child’s growth and development.” The Seedlings are a perfect match for the children attending ECDC. The Seedling is made for the dual audience of a parent and child or child and teacher. A child can learn from the Seedling on their own as they grow developmentally as well.