Draft:Edna Smith Home

The Edna Smith Home, 310 W. Park Avenue, Aurora, named after Edna Smith, was dedicated as a children's home on Oct. 8, 1948. It closed in 1971 due to rising costs, sagging income and fewer referrals from public and private agencies. The 22 children ranging in age from five to sixteen will be placed in other facilities. The Daily Herald Aug. 26, 1971.

The home was donated to the Juvenile Protection Association in 1944 by Stella Smith Sencenbaugh, the last surviving daughter of Captain Smith, and her husband Charles W. Sencenbaugh. Dormitories were added to the building that would be the home for more than 50 children. (Decatur Daily Review, Dec. 20, 1944). The J.P.A. was founded in 1914 by Edna Smith, Captain Smith's daughter.

From 1972 until 1983 it was the Edna Smith Child Development Center, a cooperative between East and West Aurora public school districts for 3 to 5 year olds with mild to moderate special education abilities. Jim Varney was the Head Teacher there from 1980 until 1983 when West Aurora closed the building and moved all programming to Hope Wall School. We had five teachers and served over 100 preschoolers annually.

From 1964 to 1996 it was the home of the Covenant Christian School and Aurora Community Church. Mutual Ground purchased the property in 1996. It would house not only needy individuals but also a day-care center and offices for a lawyer and a 16-person domestic violence unit from the Aurora Police Department.

Mutual Ground was founded as a result of a commission set up by Waubonsie Community College in 1975, that gathered representatives of local women's groups to assess the needs of women in the Fox Valley. The Chicago Tribune Dec. 8, 1996. It is currently a 24 hour emergency shelter for victims of abuse. Mutual Ground is an organization whose mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to eliminate domestic and sexual violence and the harms of substance use through education, awareness, and life-changing services. https://mutualground.org/about-us

In 1998 a wing was dedicated to longtime associate director Judith Burks. Burks influenced the anti-rape movement by sitting on the government body of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Also, a special room was dedicated in the Edna Smith Home to Anne Walsh, a sexual assault victim who was murdered at Aurora University in 1976. The Daily Herald 3 Jun 1998