264 – Guardian Angel Home
Located at 2900 W. Heading Ave, Peoria Il., Guardian Angel Home is run by the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria.
Guardian Angel Home is a long-term residential treatment facility for boys and adolescent males ages 6-18 referred by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). These young men often present significant mental health and behavioral issues, and many have been abused and neglected. Guardian Angel Home meets the social and emotional needs of its residents by providing a structured environment, focusing on behavior modification. Residents are generally DCFS wards who need significantly more structure and treatment than what is available in a foster home placement.
1880 – St. Mary’s Orphanage was established in Metamora by Archbishop John Lancaster and operated by the hospital Franciscan sisters.
1913 – Bishop Edmund M. Dunne decided to move the orphanage to Peoria. For $13,000 the 28-acre Oesterles’s Grove, a popular picnic ground in West Peoria, was purchased.
Aug. 15, 1914 – St. Mary’s orphanage moved from Metamora to Guardian Angel Home in Peoria. The name change is attributed to Bishop Dunne’s fond memories of his Chicago Italian parish, Guardian Angel.
1925 – Bishop Dunne asked a community of sisters from the East to organize a Peoria Diocesan Catholic Charities.
1972 – Bishop Edward O’Rourke assigned the ration of Guardian Angel Home to CSS. This was the first major change in 50 years at Guardian Angel. Under the direction of CSS, Guardian Angel facilit were expanded to serve a variety of needs including an emergency reception center for emotionally-disturbed children and a long-term home for pre-teen and teenage boys and girls. The Heading Avenue Sisters (Sisters of St. Francis of Immaculate Conception.) withdrew from Guardian Angel after 83 years of service.
1979- Tha Huong residential program for unaccompanied refugee children opened in a wing of Guardian Angel. The program ended in 1991.
December 1st, 2008 at 7:21 am
Guardian Angel
December 4th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I concur!!
January 16th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
lots of memories from this place back in 1986-88 may god bless each sole that was here
February 18th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I was adopted out of Guardian Angel Orphanage in 1947 at the age of 6 weeks. My brother, Tony, sister, Rita, and youngest sister, Gina, and youngest brother, Gerry, were all adopted from Guardian Angel. In 1991, I returned to Peoria as Associate Director of Religious Education for the Diocese. Our office staff was given a tour of the facility and stopped by the chapel. I was awed by the beautiful painting behind the altar of the Franciscan Sisters bringing the children to Jesus. Even more so, I was thrilled to hear that the Sisters laid each child on the altar and dedicating each child to God. It must have “taken” because I’ve worked for the Church since 1979 and am grateful for the “call!” God bless us everyone!
April 20th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I’m wondering if anyone can help me to locate the adoption records as I am trying to find my mother’s birth parents. She was adopted in 1958 from the Guardian Angel Orphanage.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Lauren
lauren.victor@gmail.com
April 21st, 2009 at 11:48 am
Looking for any staff or admin. that was employed at St. Annes’s on the side for pregnant-teens between the years of 1998-2000. Please email me it would be nice to talk to you guys again. Email me at WetWet.almond27@gmail.com
October 8th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Can anyone help, I was adopted from Guardian Angel Orphanage May 10th 1951,I was 8 months old. I was told my last name was Foot/Foote. I am trying to locate my adoption records. I have tried several ways with no success. Can anyone tell me where to begin?
Any help would be great!
November 1st, 2009 at 1:03 am
I lived at Guardian Angel home from about 1946 until 1961..not as an orphan but my dad was one of the maintenance men there.We lived in the house that was over the boiler room.There used to be a tall smokestack next to the house (got hit by lightning once) . I went to the school on the grounds (wonder if it is still there?)from 1st grade through the 6th grade.Then they closed the school so I went to St.Mary’s Cathedral School in downtown Peoria for the 7th & 8th grades. When I was in the 6th grade I used to clean the room on Saturdays for one of the nuns there..She always gave me some candy as “pay”. Lots of fond memories of the Home..
November 16th, 2009 at 5:19 am
Looking at the picture at top of page .. I remember there was a big oak tree in front of the front door..it was as tall as the building.The boys were in the wing to the right of the front door at the end of the building..and the girls in the left wing. The dinning room was on the first floor to the right of the main door..the chapel where I served as an altar boy was on the second floor,,the kitchen was below the chapel on the first floor.In the boys wing there was a room on the first floor where they showed movies every Friday night..no popcorn though..Top floor of the boys section had a big playroom with a shuffleboard table.A barber would come in and give the boys haircuts there too.