| Lakeland campus Address: 1015 Sikes Blvd., Lakeland, Fla. 33815
Fax: (863) 284-5684
Phone: (863) 688-4981
e-mail
Administrator: Eron Green
Opened: 1948
County: Polk
Acres: Approximately 35
Children's residential-care cottages: 3 (Miller/Dorothy, Mabry/Curls, and Denham/Tate residences) Coming soon: Bonniville residence.
Children's emergency shelters: 1 (King residence)
Children's ages: School-age children, through high school
Additional facilities: (1) An 11,000-square-foot multi-purpose building, known as the "Mildred W. Carlton Learning Center" that includes a library, tutoring areas, arts & crafts rooms, a half-court gymnasium, and an office, (2) a home known as the "Sonshine Residence" for up to six developmentally delayed adult women, (3) a swimming pool and picnic shelter, (4) a storage building, (5) a maintenance shop, (6) a chapel, and (7) a two-story, 15,000-square-foot administration building known as the Piper Children's Center which serves all Florida Baptist Children's Homes' programs, services and facilities throughout the state.
Maximum number of children: 54
Services offered: campus ministries, emergency shelter care, adoptions, foster care, continuing education, transition to independent living, referrals, maternity care counseling, developmental services ministry.
Teen Advisory Board —
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The Teen Advisory Board on the Lakeland Campus of the Florida Baptist Children's Homes works together throughout the year to host community events, campus activities, and to plan and assist with several benevolent projects during the holiday season. The Teen Advisory Board consists of at least one teenager from each of the group homes on campus. They raise money for the projects they plan through several different fundraisers, including bake sales, campus car washes, Christmas card orders, and our Dinner Variety Show.
Our campus enjoys inviting the community to tour our campus, meet our children and staff, and learn more about our programs. The Teen Board helps out with Open Houses and members are always on hand and willing to assist with set up, clean up, and tours. This September 6th, they will be hosting our 2nd Annual Dinner Variety Show in our Learning Center. Last year this event was a great success and a wonderful opportunity to meet members of the community, fellowship with sponsors, and host tours for church families and school personnel.
The Teen Advisory Board decided several years ago that they would like to plan, raise money for, and hold a Fall Festival for our campus family. They agreed to do all the work themselves with the help of a staff sponsor. Each year the festival becomes bigger and better, with more games and activities. In the spring, the Teen Board helps to host a Campus Olympics to celebrate the end of the school year. Both events require a lot of planning, fundraising, and time.
During the holiday season, the Teen Advisory Board assists Meals on Wheels and VISTE (Volunteers in Service to The Elderly) with meal preparations and deliveries. Each year they decide on at least one outreach project. The group has ‘adopted’ needy families and supplied Christmas gifts for the children they have visited, hosted a party for the children in care at the Salvation Army's H.A.L.O daycare, and have given gift cards to single moms.
Each year these teenagers decide on bigger and better ways to give back to the community and to support this campus.
Florida Baptist Children's Homes originated in Arcadia in 1904, but relocated to Lakeland in 1948. Like the Arcadia facility before it, the Lakeland campus has a long and proud history of helping a lot of boys and girls at a time in their lives when they were most in need.
Are you a former resident of Florida Baptist Children's Homes? If so, you may want to catch up with some old friends. Check out our list of former residents' e-mail addresses, and list your own so that others may find you.
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