Smith Family Fund boosts Adams County Children’s Home expansion

Bob and Brenda Smith of West Union are putting their new charitable endowment to work where the need is immediate: inside Wilson Children’s Home, where four rooms will be fully furnished and the living room areas improved for children who need a safe place to stay.

The C.E. Smith Family Charitable Endowment Fund was created in March 2025 to support the care, protection and well-being of children and youth in Adams County. Its first major award will go to the Adams County Children Services Foundation and Wilson Children’s Home, the county facility at 300 North Wilson Drive in West Union that serves children who are at risk of abuse, neglect or dependency.

The money is aimed at something concrete. It will help finish and furnish four rooms in the home’s new addition and strengthen common spaces used by children living there. That matters because Adams County Children Services is not a ceremonial agency. It is the public office charged by law with protecting children in danger, and the Wilson home is part of the county’s response when a child cannot safely remain at home.

The grant also lands at a critical point in a long-running building project. County reporting in 2023 put the Wilson Children’s Home effort at about $2.3 million, after earlier estimates of roughly $1.6 million. By August 2025, officials said the new dormitory behind the home would cost about $2.7 million, paid for with a mix of federal, state and local trust money, including ARPA funds and the Children’s Home Trust, not the county children’s services levy. The facility’s license allows it to house up to 20 children, making every furnished room part of the county’s capacity to keep vulnerable children close to home.

Adams County Children Services Foundation, formed in 2018 as a 501(c)(3) run by a volunteer board, has become one of the local vehicles for that work. Sonya Meyer, the agency’s executive director, has said community support is essential as the home expands. Foundation leaders said the Smith grant should have lasting value for youth served through the home, not just a short-term boost.

The Adams County Community Foundation also pointed to the Smith family’s broader giving, including a scholarship fund created in 2022 that has already supported Adams County students. Linda Stepp praised the family’s decision to build giving that lasts, and John Lawler said an endowed fund like this one can keep growing for decades. In Adams County, that means fewer empty rooms and more finished ones for children who need them now.