Our rich history is one of caring for pregnant and parenting young women and their babies. 

In 1882 Charles Crittenton, a wealthy New Yorker, lost his 4 year old daughter Florence to scarlet fever.  This tragedy moved him toward philanthropic work and he started the Florence Night Mission in New York, a safe haven for “lost and fallen” women. 

From there the Florence Crittenton Mission was formed and Charles Crittenton traveled across the country in a railroad car donating $500 to each town willing to start a Home for young women and children in need.  More than seventy Homes in total were opened.

In 1896 Crittenton bought his mission to Montana and opened the Home in Helena. In 1900 the home was incorporated.

Today the home in Helena continues to flourish and serves an average 50 young mothers and their babies each year.  We have full administrative support housed on site and a fully licensed Child Enrichment Center and daycare.

Over the last 100 years, Florence Crittenton has continued to change in order to meet the needs of pregnant and parenting women in Montana.  As social mores have changed, so have the programs at Florence Crittenton.   The Homes mission continues to be to provide the best services to help young women build the most productive lives for themselves and their babies.  However, the girls we serve today face very different challenges.  Our therapeutic services provide the basis for healing and growth so young mothers can make healthy and accountable decisions for themselves and their children. 

The National Crittenton Foundation

There are now 27 remaining Crittenton agencies across the United States.  Each agency is run as a separate entity but all share an overall role of prevention and intervention services for young families

The pledge of the National Crittenton Foundation is to work in collaboration with the Crittenton family of agencies, girls, young women and partners to address root causes and symptoms.  They support empowerment,  self-sufficiency, and the end of cycles of destructive behaviors for at-risk and system involved girls, young women and their families.  .For more information please visit www.thenationalcrittentonfoundation.org