Hendrick Home for Children launches rebuilding campaign

Many shattered lives have been rebuilt at Hendrick Home for Children since its opening in 1939. Now, the cherished Main Building at the residential care facility needs rebuilding itself.

“The Main Building is tired and worn out, and it no longer matches the function of what we do in our mission,” David Miller, HHC president and chief executive officer, said on a recent tour of the campus.

HHC has embarked on a $25 million, multi-phased “Building the Future” campaign that involves both renovating the iconic middle portion of the building and tearing down the east and west wings, to be rebuilt in the same architectural style and detailing as before.

The rehabilitating and rebuilding of the two-story building will allow for up-to-code amenities, more space and better use of it, and more cost-effective utilities. Specific features will include 12 family care suites, four college apartments for children after high school graduation, grand dining hall, kitchen, activities room, elevators, heritage display, pantry storage, board room, two supervisor apartments and administrative offices.

The campaign also includes:

• Building two 8,500-square-foot cottages, bringing the campus total to six.
• Extensively renovating the Sayler and Zuber cottages.
• Building a bigger maintenance building on the northwest corner of the 52-acre campus, to replace the one in the middle of campus.
• Building a multi-unit storage building next to the maintenance building for clients and staff.

Work began in July to renovate and rebuild the cottages and to construct the maintenance and storage buildings. Those projects began first to have facilities for relocating clients when the Main Building project begins.

More:How Abilene's Hendrick Home for Children helps rebuild lives

The new cottages, nicknamed A and B, are expected to open in August 2018, after which gutting, asbestos abasement and demolition can begin on the Main Building. When completed in 2020, the project will enable the nonprofit to grow from housing 93 clients to 114, Miller said.

Because the center part of the Main Building will extend past its current location, the building’s footprint will grow from 41,110 to 48,300 square feet.

What is Hendrick Home for Children? 

West Texas pioneers Thomas G. Hendrick and Ida Hendrick founded HHC in 1939 as a safe haven for children who could not live with their biological parents because of poverty, neglect, abuse or other reasons. The Hendricks, who died in 1946, funded their endowment with the discovery of oil on several of their ranches.

“It used to be all the kids lived in the big building,” Miller said.

Back then, up to 32 children would live in military dorm-like living quarters in the Main Building under the care of one house supervisor. In the 1970s, the wings were converted into more home-like suites for smaller children-to-supervisor ratios.

Today, children whom Miller describes as social orphans reside with houseparents in four cottages on the grounds. There are eight children and one pair of houseparents to each of Hendrick’s four cottages, two devoted to girls and two to boys. The average length of stay is seven years.

“Now we can give more detailed, individualized care to children,” Miller said about the care of children in HHC’s Basic Care program.

Children between the ages of 5 and 15 who do not require psychiatric counseling or lock-up facilities and function well with other children are admitted in the Basic Care program. They have all their physical needs met, develop responsibilities through chores and attend public school where they often participate in extracurricular activities. Summers are filled with trips, such as to Lake Brownwood, Padre Island and Big Bend National Park and a cruise for the high school seniors.

The west wing of the Main Building is now relief care, where the children stay when their cottage houseparents take off every other weekend.

HHC’s After Care program is an extensive of Basic Care for clients after high school graduation who are attending colleges or vocational schools. Graduates receive assistance with school expenses and housing, with some continuing to live on campus in the college townhouse behind the Main Building while attending school.

HHC currently is paying for 14 graduates to attend schools, Miller said.

In 1996, when 16 students graduated and one floor of the Main Building was vacated, Hendrick officials learned of three women at Noah Project, which assists victims of family violence, who needed transition care to get back on their feet. That began the Family Care Program to provide housing, food, counseling and educational opportunities to single mothers so that they can become self-supporting for themselves and their children.

Two dads have been in the program in its 21-year existence.

By helping single parents keep their family intact, the need for children to be assisted in Basic Care is reduced, Miller said.

The Family Care program started in the east wing of the Main Building. In 2016, it expanded with the opening of the A. L. “Dusty” and Nancy Rhodes Family Care Complex on the west side of the campus. The complex features 12 family suites,  two house supervisor suites, the William and Amber Cree Activities Center, laundry room, classroom, study stations, communal living rooms and two communal kitchens with individual workstations, refrigerators and panties for the moms.

Why Main Building needs replacing

Founder Thomas G. Hendrick had HHC built to standards far beyond its time, Miller said.

“Mr. Hendrick built this to be the Taj Mahal of child care agencies. He always built things better than they had to be,” Miller said. “The building itself is solid.”

But the Main Building is no longer up to construction standards, despite being well-maintained and updated through the years. The 18-inch exterior walls do not have moisture barriers, and black mold is in some areas. Some water lines are still original clay pipe. Walls are brittle and cannot be repaired. Utilities are costlier in older buildings, Miller said.

The Rhodes Complex has more energy efficient features than was even available in 2003 when Patty’s Cottage was built.

“That 30,000 square feet is cheaper to operate with the utilities than the 6,500 in Patty’s Cottage,” Miller said.

The difference is multi-fold between the original 1939 Main Building and the planned new incarnation, he said.

The Main Building also has no elevator, which is especially a problem for kitchen staff for accessing pantries and freezer in the basement. The original pantry in the kitchen is smaller than what is found in new 2,000-square-foot houses.

And, the dining hall is too small to host all the clients and staff at one time for special occasions or meals, Miller said.

Fundraising campaign

HHC is a state-certified facility whose operations are privately funded through an endowment and donations.

To date, about $2 million has been raised by the HHC staff for the $25 million “Building the Future” campaign. Some funds from the operating budget also have been set aside in recent years for the project, Miller said.  

Proceeds from the sale of the 42,000-acre Hendrick River Ranch 50 miles north of Abilene are being held in trust to benefit HHC’s operating expenses and are not earmarked for the construction. A nondisclosure agreement prevents the release of the sale price.

HHC had to pay ad volorem taxes after the property was sold.

“We have not realized yet the full benefit of the sale of the ranch,” Miller said.

The total cost of building the two cottages is just under $4 million, and the Main Building ticket price, which includes demolition, renovation and construction, is expected to be $13.5 million.

“It’s more expensive to build for children because of the building codes,” Miller said. “And, we are building it to last 100 years.”

In 2000, HHC administrators and board crafted a 20-year plan to grow its facilities to better serve children, Miller said. He joined HHC in 1989 as vice president of development and was named director in 1994.

That vision has unfolded with the addition of Patty’s Cottage, renovations of others and the addition of the equestrian center for equine therapy and the Rhodes Complex.

Now it is time for the Main Building to receive due attention.

“It’s kind of surreal to see that the 2020 vision we put together in 2000 is coming together now so quickly,” Miller said.

Home for the Holidays Exes luncheon

What: A reunion event for Hendrick Home for Children clients

When: 12:00 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 21

Where: Roberts Recreation Center on HHC campus

Information: Reservations required by Monday, Oct. 16; call 325-692-0112.