Our Mission: To empower and equip our community’s most vulnerable children by providing a safe environment, educational support, and career readiness, in collaboration with families and community partners.
Our Vision is that all children will have loving and stable families and a nurturing community empowering them to lead successful lives.
Founded in 1790, Carolina Youth Development Center is an important part of Charleston’s historic and cultural heritage, a direct descendant of the Charleston Orphan House, America’s first publicly-funded orphanage.
Today, CYDC provides programs reaching over 1,200 children, youth and their families locally each year. We care for young people who are victims of physical and sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment, as well as providing resources and support to area families at risk of having their children removed from their home.
Of the 1,200 children and families we serve, our Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program provided caring adult role models to 182 local children from single-parent families last year.
Accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) continuously since 1980, CYDC is a funded partner of Trident United Way, and a member of Child Welfare League of America, the Palmetto Association for Children and Families and the Alliance for logostyleguide.qxdStrong Families and Communities.
Carolina Youth Development Center is a 501(c)(3) organization.