A Haven for Hope and Healing
Odum Home was originally formed by the Burnt Swamp Baptist Association in 1942 as the Pembroke Indian Orphanage. The home was the first of its kind established for Indian children in North Carolina.
In 1917, Mr. and Mrs. E.L. Odum gave 58 acres of good land for an Indian orphanage. However, the home was not opened until thirty one years later without the Odums seeing their dreams come true.
At Odum Home, school-age children are given an opportunity to
overcome personal and family problems while staff work to preserve or
reunify families. Length of placement is determined by the time necessary
for the resident and his/her family to achieve their goals.
Odum Home is operated by Baptist Children's Homes of North Carolina
(www.bchfamily.org). Baptist Children's Homes is a nonprofit child care organization providing residential programs and services through 23 statewide locations and one international orphanage in Xela, Guatemala.
WHO ARE THE CHILDREN?
The children who live at Odum Home are not strangers. They come to us
from your community. They attend schools in your area. You pass them in
the store. They are your neighbors.
WHO WE ARE
OUR HERITAGE
WHY DO CHILDREN COME?
Family Crisis. . . Sometimes children come to Odum Home due to
family challenges. We have the privilege of working with children
and their families to help them overcome the specific issues that
threaten to tear the family apart.
Abuse. . .Children also come because the adults in their lives have
let them down. Precious boys and girls suffer abuse, neglect, and
abandonment often at the hands of the adults they have trusted to love and care for them.
HOW ARE CHILDREN REFERRED?
Do you know a child or family who needs help? Is there a family living in your neighborhood or attending your church desperate to overcome the challenges threatening to tear them apart?
A referral to Odum Home or to one of Baptist Children’s Homes other 22 locations is not difficult or risky and can be made by anyone. Children and families are referred by themselves, departments of social services, pastors, educators, juvenile services, concerned friends, and family members. It can be as simple as a phone call or email. To refer a child or family by phone, 1-800-476-3669. You may also send an email to or visit
Odum Home children prepared for meals in the group dining hall.
Keeping the home open was a struggle, and by the late 50's there was a growing feeling it would have to be closed. Local leadership made an appeal to the Baptist State Convention, and in 1957 the Indian Orphanage joined Baptist Children's Homes of North Carolina.
Learn more about the history of Odum Home by downloading the special issue of Charity and Children published on October 28, 1973 that highlighted the past, present and future!
