Until 1998, the Children's Farm Home in Corvallis and the Parry Center for Children and Waverly Children's Home in Portland
operated as three independent care agencies. But leaders at all three agencies realized that to better serve the children
and families of Oregon, they would have to use their scarce resources more strategically. The more efficient they could be
by combining programs and staff, the more children and families they could serve.
Thus, Trillium Family Services was born. The board members of each agency chose Trillium as the agency's new name based
on three components -- child, family and community. Today, we are many campuses but truly one agency, although we consciously
retained the names of each campus to honor our history.
The "child, family, community" banner that led to the name Trillium represented the three areas upon which Trillium's services
focused and represented a new model of engagement. No longer would children's therapy be separate from the other two areas.
In all treatment matters, therapists would engage all three areas to deliver the most comprehensive care possible to reach the
ultimate goal -- returning children to their home communities where they could live and succeed in their everyday settings at
home, school and elsewhere.
Children's Farm Home History
In 1919, Mary Powers Riley asked her "sisters" of the Oregon Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to help create an orphanage
that was not an institution, but a facility with the "atmosphere of a real home." In December 1922, Ms. Unruh turned the first shovel
of dirt for the first cottage, named the Willard.
In 1962, the WCTU turned complete control of the Farm Home over to the Board of Trustees and the focus turned from housing orphaned
children to treating youth with behavioral and emotional problems. The 1960's and 70's were a time of great change as the Farm Home
evolved with the current social needs of Oregon. Farming activities were greatly reduced as they became more of a treatment resource
rather than a necessity.
The 80s and 90s were decades of growth as cuts in state aid for service agencies forced the Farm Home to rethink its own economic
survival. The agency sought and received national accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO).
This enabled the agency to provide contracted services for the Oregon State Mental Health Division as well as Services for Children and
Families.
Today, the Trillium Children's Farm Home Campus is headquarters to Trillium's programs and services in the Mid-Willamette Valley, including
psychiatric residential care, outpatient therapy, therapeutic foster care, in-home therapy, and many other services that are based in the
region's communities.
Parry Center and Waverly Children's Programs History
In 1867, the Ladies Relief Society formed one of the first charitable organizations in Oregon to help "children who have no place to go."
These were orphaned children who were part of the trek West in the days of the Oregon Trail.
The Home was built in 1872 to care for these children. It eventually became The Children's Home and was housed on the West Side of Portland.
In 1926, the present East Powell Boulevard campus was built. In the 1950's, approaches to care for children changed and in 1961 children
suffering from mental illness had "no place to go." The first Oregon program for residential treatment of severely disturbed children was
established on the campus, and the agency officially adopted the name Parry Center for Children to honor Elizabeth Parry, the long-time
superintendent of the earlier Children's Home.
Today, the Trillium Parry Center Campus continues its commitment to Oregon's children, adolescents and their families, serving as Trillium's
site for psychiatric residential care in the Portland Metro area. The campus also houses the Secure Children's Inpatient Program, which serves
the most severely affected children ages 5 to 12 years old who formerly would have been served at the Oregon State Hospital.
Five women who saw the need for care of abandoned and mistreated children founded Waverly in 1888, shortly after Portland's first bridge
was completed. As Portland grew, so did the number of homeless and neglected babies.
On Jan. 18, 1888, the Baby Home was officially established under the leadership of Mary Halsey. The agency was incorporated by J.W. Kern,
James Abraham and A.L. Keenan.
In order to obtain more space, the Baby Home moved to a house and barn on a section of land donated by (S.W.) Capt. J.W. and Mrs. Kern in
memory of their deceased child. This donated land is the same site that Waverly Children's Home sits on today.
The agency was later licensed by the state to care for children up to the age of 12, and the facility changed its name to Waverly Children's
Home. In 1968, Waverly started its residential care programs for treatment of emotionally and behaviorally challenged children.
Today, the Trillium Waverly Children's Programs (including day treatment and therapeutic school programs, outpatient therapy, and most of
Trillium's community-based programs for the greater Portland Metro region) are housed on the Parry Center campus.
If you would like information about the Waverly Adoption Registry, please contact Kathleen Boyll at 541-758-7730
or email. Click here
for more information and a registry request form.
