The Home: A Memoir of Growing Up in an Orphanage

Richard McKenzie was 10 years old when he and his brother were dropped off at an orphanage in North Carolina. Their mother had committed suicide and their alcoholic and abusive father could not care for them. The Home, as everyone called it, provided the children with the stability they needed to build character and self-respect. Some were orphans, but most were victims of poverty and neglect, and the home provided them with a safe shelter. McKenzie sayed until he finished high school and went on to college, as did most of the orphans. He is a professor of economics and the author of twenty-five books. Remarkably most of his friends at The Home have had similiar successes. Today, our foster care system is strained beyond capacity; countless children languish in broken families with insufficient means. McKenzie shines a refreshing clear light on the ongoing debate about the proper fate of these children. His story reminds us that institutional care can be the best choice for children trapped in horrible circumstances.