Our History
Julie’s Story In 1977, Julie West Sorrelle became pregnant at age eighteen. Frightened and feeling hopeless, she scheduled an abortion. Just days before her appointment, she decided, instead, to complete her pregnancy. With her parents’ support, Julie moved into a Christian maternity home in Pennsylvania where she received guidance and encouragement throughout her pregnancy. After giving birth to a healthy baby boy and placing him for adoption with a loving Christian couple, Julie returned home to South Florida to complete the healing process.
God used Julie’s experience to plant a desire in her family’s heart to create a similar ministry in South Florida, and after much prayer and careful planning, His Caring Place opened its doors in 1984. Throughout the years, this residential home has served hundreds of young women and their families, not only practically, but also spiritually. Today, we marvel at how God continues to use the life of a desperate, fearful teenager to prove His faithfulness to many others just like her.
Cindy grew up without the protection most take for granted in childhood. She and her sister were exposed to drugs, alcohol, verbal and physical abuse at very young ages. Her mom brought them with her to crack houses or when she prostituted herself. At age 7, Cindy was raped. It began a pattern of men molesting her throughout her childhood. "To distract myself," remembers Cindy, "I created my own imaginary world where everything was happy and safe. Eventually, I turned to alcohol to dull the pain. By 18, I was stripping. By 20, I was prostituting myself, and then I got pregnant." Alone, she had nowhere to go for help. But hope was just around the corner...
One day, outside the DCF office, a stranger walked up to her and told her about His Caring Place. Right there, in the parking lot, she prayed to God and asked for forgiveness and a new life. "I found that new life at His Caring Place," she remembers. For the first time, she saw a stable, loving family, and she knew that was what she wanted for her daughter, Cloe. Now she is working and pursuing her education. "With God's help, I am breaking the cycle of my grandmother not being a mother to my mom, and my mom not being a mother to me. This cycle of neglect has stopped with me."