Fonds paa-7236 - Beulah Home fonds

Beulah Home was founded by Maude Elizabeth Chatham as a home for unmarried mothers and their babies. Chatham, along with Mary A. Finlay (nee White) and Clara Price (nee Schaffer), rented their first house in Edmonton, Alberta at 102 Street and 103 Avenue, and the house opened on September 9, 1909. Beulah Home was interdenominational and staffed with trained nurses and other workers who instructed the young mothers in Christianity and taught them how to care for their children. For those mothers that decided not to keep their children, Beulah Home arranged their adoptions. The Home was run by a Board of Directors and, because it was not self-supporting, was dependent upon donations from the community to keep running. By 1910 Beulah Home had moved to 99 Street and 106 Avenue, a site that proved unsuccessful, and when Alex Ronald donated two acres of land in the Rosslyn subdivision, which is now 134 Avenue and 101 Street, a new building was built for the Beulah Home. In 1924 the nursery in Beulah Home was over-taxed and with the funds raised by the Dorcas Society, a group of women who took an interest in the Home and provided donations of household items and money to Beulah Home, the Home was able to build the Baby Cottage. In 1927 the Hospital at Beulah Home was expanded and became a recognized contract hospital. In 1940, through donations and funding by city and provincial Health Departments, the Home had water and sewage, and in 1951 it was provided with natural gas. In 1962 an apartment duplex was built on Beulah Home property to provide a comfortable home for Mary A. Finlay, who retired after 47 years of being Superintendent of Beulah Home, as well as to provide living accommodations for staff members. Finlay lived at the property until her death in 1970. In 1964 the work of the Home was taken over by the Government of Alberta but the Beulah Home Board of Directors continued to function, providing scholarships for Christian students studying Social Services, and helping other organizations who were involved in children and youth work, such as Bethany Homes for Children, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, and Youth for Christ in the Province of Alberta. In July 1979 the Board of Beulah Home erected a seniors residence and named it the "Mary A. Finlay Manor."