Methodist Home for Children

The Buffalo Deaconess Home of the Methodist Episcopal Church was started by a group of women who visited homes, hospitals and prisons. The Deaconesses found jobs for unemployed, nursed the sick, distributed food and clothing, and provided daycare and religious education for children. In 1890, they rented a residence at 108 South Division Street. Due to the overwhelming need and overcrowding of the residence, the Home was moved to 2978 Main street in 1892.

During their residency at Main Street, the first child came into their care in 1904, compelling the Deaconesses to expand. The Deaconess purchased the land and residence at 292 Niagara Street. The residence relocated in 1906.

Within two years, plans were presented for the erection an Industrial Building to be built in the rear of the existing building. New departments were also going to be added into the new building. The cornerstone was laid on June 19, 1908, with the inscription, "Deaconess Home 1890 - 1908". The cornerstone also served as a sort of time capsule and the following items were placed under it: copies of the daily paper, the quarterly publication of the Genesee Conference of Deaconess, the first manual of the Home published in 1890, and subsequent manuals of 1900, 1903 and 1904, The Deaconess Bureau Report, minutes from Women's Home Missionary Society 1906-1907; and a group photograph of Deaconess and the supervisor of the Home.

The funding for the Industrial Building came from the sale of Main Street, bequests, donations, gifts and memorial dedications for parts of the new building. The two-story building plan included a dispensary, kitchen, gymnasium, separate club rooms for boys and girls.

The Industrial Building opened on September 24, 1908, and it included everything in the plan with some additional departments. The basement contained dispensary, kitchen and gymnasium; - new club rooms were added for boys and girls, industrial classes, meeting places and recreation accommodations. The Kindergarten was relocated to this building from Front Street. The addition of an infirmary enabled women and children medical care who were unable to utilize city hospitals. The medical care was provided by the Home's medical staff. Another new department was the "children's room" - a transition room for children awaiting placement into a suitable home. The Deaconesses utilized the second floor for their dormitories.

With money from a bequest from Elizabeth Sheldon , the Deaconesses purchased a 66-acre farm in Williamsville in 1912. This was the first pony express stop on the outside of Buffalo. The first cottage, Sooy, was built in 1915 enabling a permanent home to allow twenty children to transfer from the city.

The Home was renamed in 1921 to Gateway. By 1930, seven cottages had been built, one of the buildings was used as the Administrative Building.

The ground was broke for another cottage on May 12, 1957.and opened in January 1958. The Grace McGraw Curry Cottage was an "L-Shaped" building allowing for fifteen girls in each wing. Bedrooms were private or semi-private and there was a private quarter for staff. A modern kitchen, dining area in multi-use room, lounge, playroom, infirmary and mudroom was included in the plan. The cottage was named for a Buffalo School Teacher who had bequeathed $140,000 to the organization. The Curry Cottage was the first of five buildings to be erected.

Cottages were staffed by house parents and residents had chores with a weekly allowance varying from ten cents to seventy-five cents depending on age. An attending nurse was on-site with a consulting doctor, psychiatrist, and psychologist. Caseworkers provided counseling to the children and their families.

In 1963, the organization announced further expansion with the addition of a school. Building commenced on September 18, 1963. The Burns-Lynde Memorial Chapel and Educational Building included a chapel, gymnasium, three classrooms, four craft rooms, personnel offices, conference rooms and storage rooms. Funding for the building were raised through a financial campaign and a came from a bequest of a Delevan woman in memory of her son. The Gateway-Lynde School opened in 1964. It was one of the few institutions to provide education services for children with emotional disturbances too severe to attend public schools. But due to the limited space, only one applicant out of seven was admitted.

The majority of the population came from Upstate New York. Two-thirds of residents were county welfare clients unable to live at home or foster care; the remainder one-third were admitted by courts. The ; average stay was one-and-a-half years. Payment for board came from the referring county (70 percent making 50 percent of the total budget. The remainder of budget comes from endowments funds (25 percent and from the Methodist churches from around the state (25 percent).

In 1967, the organization was renamed to Gateway

1971:  Community Services Program began - satellites opened in Rochester, Syracuse and Jamestown.  Preventive services offered to avoid residential placement

1982:  School expanded offering full-fledged elementary and secondary special education program

1987:  Day Treatment started to provide educational and counseling services for children with emotional and behavioral problems living at home

1990:  Adoptive Services began for children within their care

1991:  SILP - community based program for teens leaving residential placement

1994:  Preventive Respite Program to assist children and families dealing with severe crises and to offer temporary care and assistance

1996:  Merge with Longview-Niagara, creating Gateway-Longview