Residential Maternity Services

Bayard House

The newest addition to the Catholic Charities Family of services is the Bayard House.  Incorporated in 1979, and licensed by the State of Delaware in 1982, the Bayard House was originally named The Home of Divine Providence and was created by a group of lay men and women from Wilmington’s Catholic community with assistance from the Bishop of the Diocese.  The merger with Catholic Charities in October of 2004 was a way for the Bayard House to expand upon the natural relationship that has always existed with the Diocese and benefit from Charities’ management team’s many years of experience in family, children’s and maternity services.

Bayard House is the only fully licensed residential program serving homeless or transitional pregnant minors in Delaware.  Beyond meeting the immediate needs of homeless pregnant women – namely shelter and food – Bayard House also provides its residents with educational and employment assistance, access to health care, birthing & parenting classes, independent living & home management skills, and pregnancy counseling & referral services.  The long-term goals of Bayard House include lessening the rates of infant mortality and child abuse in Delaware, providing a supportive environment for childbirth, building healthy families with healthy children, and reducing teen pregnancy rates through education and shared information.

The mission of Bayard House is to provide residential, educational, and referral services to at-risk pregnant teens/women and to young families in need, so that they may become nurturing parents and independent, contributing members of society.

Bayard House provides 24-hour residential care to at-risk pregnant minors and women by providing:

• Individualized case management services to ensure each resident achieves secure housing, nutritious meals, and emotional support
• Access to pre-natal healthcare, birthing classes, and counseling
• Parenting and independent-living workshops
• Information and referral services for those at-risk for low birth weight babies, child abuse, neglect, teen pregnancy and lack of pre-natal care
• Project Straight Talk – an educational outreach program designed to address the risks, responsibilities and realities of teen pregnancy and parenthood
• After-Care programming and support which includes transportation to medical appointments, referrals for housing, employment assistance, continued social services, emotional support, and home visits.

Since its inception in 1979, Bayard House has celebrated the birth of over 620 healthy babies.  Bayard House currently is licensed to serve ten (10) pregnant teens and/or women at any given time in a home-like environment.   The staff consists of professional case managers, social workers and direct service personnel.  Full- and part-time staff operate the program 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  For over 20 years, there has existed a healthy relationship with the State’s Department of Family Services (DFS) and Bayard House has been home to pregnant minors while under the State’s guardianship.