EAST CHICAGO | Nazareth Home, a not-for-profit foster home in East Chicago that has cared for more than 100 children, will celebrate its 15th anniversary Monday.

Nazareth Home was founded April 21, 1993, by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ to provide individual care 24 hours a day for medically compromised children referred by the Department of Child Services. It is administered by Ancilla Systems Inc.

The home's mission is to care for poor and powerless infants and children by providing them with a loving, caring and stable beginning, according to a news release.

Sister Barbara Kuper, the director and foster mother at Nazareth Home, is assisted by a staff of 11 and more than 72 volunteers. In 2007, volunteers donated 4,280 hours of service.

The first event of the celebration year will be Nazareth Home's volunteer appreciation luncheon. Other events include a summer reunion for the children and their families, and the annual gala, set for Oct. 16 at the Hammond Federal Courthouse.

Nazareth Home is dedicated to meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of infants and children faced with extraordinary challenges in life as a result of being abandoned by or removed from families without the capacity to provide appropriate care.

Since it opened, Nazareth Home has cared for 114 children, the majority of whom have come directly from hospital discharge after delivery. A child who is designated as medically compromised may be suffering from drug withdrawal or may be attached to a variety of life support systems, according to the release.

The necessity for an intensive care facility for babies with unique medical needs was identified by Lake County Department of Child Services in 1993. The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ (Ancilla Domini Sisters), responded by creating Nazareth Home. The home is licensed for six infants and children ranging in age from newborn through 6 years old.

According to Dr. James Goldyn, who has tracked the progress of Nazareth Home babies from birth to grade school, it is the exceptional level of care that is directly responsible for the babies to ultimately function as normal children.

The 114 children who have been referred to Nazareth Home by the Department of Child Services are wards of the court. They remain there until they can be reunited with their rehabilitated parents or placed with extended family members, are adopted or when they need to be placed in a long-term foster home.

Of the 114 children, 34 have been adopted, 23 have been placed in long-term foster care and the remaining 57 were reunited with parents or family members.

For more information on Nazareth Home, events or volunteer opportunities, call (219) 947-8542.

- For The Times