A Tradition of Excellence

Epworth Children’s Home began with a belief… the belief that every child is a miracle. In 1896 the Methodist people of South Carolina demonstrated that belief by establishing Epworth Orphanage. Epworth has evolved from the early days as a farm orphanage to a modern, high-quality children’s home known now as Epworth Children’s Home.

​Epworth continues to exhibit the belief that every child is a miracle through our mission to serve children, youth and families through a caring, accepting and safe Christian community, where hurts are healed; hope is nurtured; and faith in God, self, and others is developed.
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Since Epworth’s inception, we have provided a home to thousands of children who have been nurtured, educated, and then have stepped into the adult world as responsible citizens.  Epworth serves families and children in need, regardless of their religious backgrounds/beliefs.

Approximately 50 children are severely abused
​and neglected every day in South Carolina.

Every Child Deserves the Best

During the past two years, Epworth Children’s Home has:
  • Served a total of 160 children at any given time across Epworth’s varied programs.  Epworth continues the tradition of never turning a child away because of an inability for a child’s family or a child’s custodian to pay for a place to live.  Epworth provides almost four million dollars in fully subsidized services to children and families each year.
  • Continued a culture of success for children in our care.  100% of high school students graduated, and 92% of all students had a “C” average or better—including 43% on academic honor roll.
  • Expanded the Higher Education/Independent Living Program.  Youth ages 18-23 who are “aging out” of foster care is the fastest growing demographic.  This program growth promotes independence in a supervised and supportive setting.
  • Received National Recognition for Excellence.  All of Epworth’s programs are now nationally accredited by the prestigious Council on Accreditation, and Charity Navigator awarded Epworth its coveted 4-Star rating for fiscal accountability and transparency.
  • Enhanced Evidenced-Based Programming.  The Duke Endowment’s support to create the Performance and Quality Improvement Department ensures that Epworth provides the highest quality care to those we serve.  Epworth continues to employ the CARE model for child wellbeing in active partnership with Cornell University.
  • Reduced dependency on state and other governmental programs.  Private funding through annual and planned gifts reduce dependency on government funding.  Annual private gifts from United Methodist Churches and members, as well as general community support has increased over 30% in the last five years, allowing Epworth to provide high-quality services to children, youth and families.