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NCCF Timeline
1914: The Columbia Association of Churches (now the DC Baptist Convention) votes to establish an orphanage at the urging of the Rev. Henry W.O. Millington, pastor of Brookland Baptist Church. The 26 Association churches agree to share the expense of supporting the orphanage.
1915: The Baptist Home for Children (BHC) opens at 904 Newton Street, NW, Washington DC, to care for 14 children in a building donated by John B. Lord.
1924: The Board of Trustees purchases a 140-acre farm on Cedar Lane (now Greentree Road) in Bethesda, Maryland.
1926: A Trust Fund is established to support the operations of BHC with major donations from the Edwin Gould Foundation and the Columbia Association of Churches.
1931: First Lady Lou Henry Hoover dedicates two dormitories on the Bethesda campus. A year later, more than 50 children from the District enjoy life in the country.
1945: BHC receives State certification as a public child care agency.
1953: BHC hires a social worker to facilitate reunification of families. New services such as counseling, tutoring, and music lessons are added.
1967: The first African-American child is welcomed against the backdrop of the civil rights movement. BHC expands services and offers in-home counseling to troubled families.
1969: Limited foster care placement is added to the array of services, designed to help older children ready themselves for the "work-a-day world."
1973: Two new 10-bed cottages open for residents in the Greentree Adolescent Program (GAP)
1983: The Greentree Shelter (GTS) opens to serve homeless families, offering child care, transportation, parenting education, and transitional services.
1989: The Family Stabilization Program (FSP), a transitional housing program with in-home case management support and employment and parenting programs, is established in Silver Spring, Maryland. The Greentree School, a transitional school program, opens its doors on the Bethesda campus to serve GAP students.
1992: With a vote of the Board of Trustees, the agency becomes the Baptist Home for Children and Families (BHCF), reflecting the organization's comprehensive focus on both children and their families.
1993: Greentree School is approved as a Type III transition school by the Maryland Department of Education.
1994: Greenleaf Treatment Foster Care (GTFC) holds its first treatment foster care parent training and matches vulnerable children with families who offer love, attention, and support.
1995: FutureBound Independent Living Program (FILP), a supervised apartment-based program, is established to help youth prepare to live independently within the community.
1997: Freddie Mac Foundation funds the establishment of the CARA House, a neighborhood-based, collaborative, therapeutic parenting education center in Washington, DC. The Greenleaf Treatment Foster Care program expands to target foster care and respite homes in Ward 7 and the surrounding communities in the District of Columbia.
1998: Community volunteers construct a playground to enhance the GTS child care center. The following year, volunteers also create a 350-foot nature woodland trail at the Bethesda campus.
2000: BHCF partners with the District of Columbia Public Schools, Freddie Mac Foundation, and New York Children's Aid Society to support the JC Nalle Community School, an elementary school in Ward 7 that offers extended-day academic and social supports. The Family Focus Program (FFP), an intensive, home-based family preservation program, initiates support to Montgomery County families who are involved with the child welfare system. BHCF celebrates its long history of service to the community with an 85th Anniversary Gala. GAP welcomes female clients to the newly constructed dormitory.
2001: The Board of Trustees unanimously votes to adopt a new name, the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF®), to reflect the inclusive nature of the organization serving children, youth and families from diverse ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds, within the national capital region.
2002: A collaboration between NCCF®, the National Institute on Corrections, and 17 other community partners creates the Family Ties Program (FTP), a 3-year demonstration project to assess the impact of parental incarceration on children. NCCF® receives the Outstanding Agency Award for 2002 from the Consortium for Child Welfare.
2003: NCCF® serving women and children at the Betty Ann Krahnke Center for New Beginnings, the only shelter for victims of domestic violence in Montgomery County, Maryland.
2004: The newly constructed John and Penny White Volunteer and Training Center, named in honor of an alumnus of BHC, is dedicated. Clients are welcomed back to The Greentree Shelter after a major upgrade and facelift.
2005: NCCF® expands its foster care services with the acquisition of the Family Intervention Program (FIP), formerly under the auspices of For Love of Children.
