Founded in 1790 as the Charleston Orphan House, today Carolina Youth Development Center (CYDC) operates eight programs that offer shelter for and assistance to children who have experienced abuse, neglect or abandonment. We also provide mentoring and other services for at risk youth. Programs affiliated with Carolina Youth Development Center include The Beacon, the Bakker Career Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Carolina Youth Development Center, Callen-Lacey Center for Children, Charleston Emergency Shelter, Freedom Schools®, Horizon House, and Ledford House.

On this blog, we feature news and updates on what’s going at Carolina Youth Development Center. Think of it as a place to learn more about the people and programs of CYDC, including the children and youth in our care, our staff, our donors, supporters and sponsors, and our volunteers. We also write about issues central to the needs of the population that we serve including youth leadership skills, community and school mentoring, development of life skills, youth career training, child welfare and child abuse. This blog is written by our team of in house experts who confront these issues daily while caring for the children and youth we serve. The content is appropriate for anyone with interests in the organization and these issues, including potential and current volunteers and supporters, parents, human services professionals and fundraising professionals.

We hope you will enjoy your time here, and we encourage visit our Subscribe page so that you will receive our updates regularly. For more detailed information about CYDC, you may also visit our website at http://www.cydc.org.

Thanks for visiting!