121 Years of Helping Forlorn Kids Learn How to Smile

Some might say that Judy Nelson specializes in repairs of the heart.

While president of Hollygrove, a Los Angeles home for severely abused and neglected children, she has dried the eyes of little ones waiting in vain for a visit from Mom or held tight to the hands of children too scared to speak.

But after a few months in her care, they smile at her approach.

“Miss Judy, Miss Judy!” one said Saturday. “Look at my new drawing!”

Another shouted, “Look what I can do!”

“These kids have grown up in a world of violence,” Nelson said. “It’s all they’ve ever known. What we offer here is a crash course on how to have a healthy childhood.”

Nelson has dedicated herself to continuing Hollygrove’s 121-year history as an orphanage that’s more than just a place to stay for kids without parents. To date, it has been a home for more than 15,000 children.

Hollygrove was founded in 1880 by two women tired of seeing homeless children roam the streets of Los Angeles. Riding a horse-drawn buggy, Mrs. Frank Gibson and Mrs. Dan Stephens rounded up 12 parentless boys and girls and opened the Los Angeles Orphans Society, based in Chinatown.

The orphanage moved to its current location on North El Centro Avenue after a benefactor donated the property in 1910. Since then, renamed Hollygrove Children and Family Services in the 1950s, it has grown to house as many as 68 children at a time, averaging about 300 wards a year.

The orphanage specializes in helping the most severely neglected children: the ones born addicted to drugs, who watched their fathers beat their mothers or who suffered beatings themselves. All have been through several foster homes and were eventually turned away.

“These are troubled children,” Nelson said. “They can sometimes be angry; they can sometimes be violent.”

But at Hollygrove, they are part of a live-in program specifically designed for their needs. There are therapists and classes to teach the kids how to be kids. In creative art therapy, they are encouraged to draw and paint. In cooking class, they learn how to make salads and boil spaghetti. And because they live so near Hollywood, some even learn how to act.

“We’re not trying to make movie stars,” said Nelson, whose organization sits down the block from Paramount Studios. “But we do want to make the most of our resources.”

Viacom and Paramount contribute in time and money to Hollygrove. Stars sometimes drop by to pitch in with activities. Black-and-white pictures on the wall still show off a 1930 visit from Shirley Temple.

And on Saturday, actor Jim Belushi was on hand to help hand out 6,000 toys that the Malibu-based toy company JAKKS Pacific Inc. donated to Hollygrove and five other charities.

Many of the programs are also supported by funds from Marilyn Monroe’s estate. The 9-year-old Norma Jean Baker was taken in by Hollygrove in 1935 and stayed until 1937. Pictures of her at play also hang on the walls.

The acting program includes everything from set building to costume making to performing.

“Some of these kids have never been chosen for anything,” Nelson said. “Here, they audition and are chosen for something. They get to be on stage for the first time and get applause. And you should see their faces when they hear that applause.”

Most children average about 19 months at Hollygrove. After that, workers push to get them into traditional foster homes.

Volunteer Elena Hamilton points out that a foster home is often the first step toward adoption. She knows, having started out as a mentor at Hollygrove to a 7-year-old, only to wind up adopting the girl and two others a few years later.

“After being around the kids, we just fell in love with them,” Hamilton said.

Hollygrove is a past recipient of money from the Holiday Campaign of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund.

Serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, the agencies helped by the holiday campaign provide a range of services for children, including aid for the mentally and physically disabled and programs to prevent drug abuse and violence.

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