The idea to create a children’s home such as The Donald M. Whaley Children’s Center was conceived in the1880’s when Robert J. Whaley, saddened by the death of his only son, thought of a special way to honor him. Donald, who had died in 1880 at the age of eleven years, had been saving money to give to an orphanage in Detroit. This act motivated Robert Whaley to bequeath funds in his will to build the Donald M. Whaley Home in memory of Donald. The home was to provide care for “homeless and neglected children.” Robert J. Whaley had been President of Citizens Bank for forty-one years at the time of his death in 1922. The Flint Journal story reporting his death stated: “Mr. Whaley was a conspicuous figure in Michigan’s industrial and financial history for more than half a century. He believed that every good citizen should be willing to give some time to public affairs.”

The Whaley Foundation was incorporated January 26, 1924. The fund was left to the trusteeship of the wardens and vestry of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Charles Stewart Mott and C.F.Barth, President and Vice-President of the Trustees, wanted the best and most modern type of children’s home consistent with the will. They consulted with the Child Welfare League of America who surveyed the needs of Flint and recommended that “The Whaley Fund equip itself with a place and staff to serve dependent and neglected children in general without distinction to race and creed and particularly to those cases that were in trouble because of health and behavior conditions that had not been diagnosed and remedied.”

The Memorial Home was built in 1926 under the leadership of Charles Stewart Mott, 1st President of the Whaley Foundation. There have been a number of significant additions to our facilities and programs during the succeeding years. In 1955, a recreational building with a gym, craft room and two classrooms was built on campus. In 1964, the children’s living units in the Memorial Building under went a major renovation for the first time since the building was built. In the 1969 our group home program was begun. Today, thanks to the generosity of local Service Clubs, we have four high quality group homes donated by Rotary, Kiwanis, Zonta and Optimist Clubs and located in nearby neighborhoods.

In 1977, Whaley was one of the first agencies to offer a Treatment Foster Care Program that provided children an opportunity to live with a specially trained family. During the same year we opened our Educational Center, attached to the Recreational Building, that houses five classrooms, several offices and a meeting room. In 1982, We started our Special Needs Adoption program. In 1984, The Whaley Community Board of Directors was organized and assumed oversight of the day to day operations. In the same year, we actively focused our development efforts on debt reduction and modern facilities. During the following few years, we started our well-known events such as the World’s Greatest Office Party, A Whaley of an Auction and the Whaley Golf Outing. In 1989, we initiated a major capital campaign to build a new children’s residential center and successfully raised over two million dollars in three years.

In 1991, we opened the C. S. and Ruth Rawlings Mott Residential Center. This state of the art residential treatment center is a cornerstone of our program services. In 1993, we remodeled the Whaley Memorial Building into a functional office building for clinical, foster care, adoption, administrative, human resource, finance and development offices. In 1997, we started the Endowment Campaign which today has commitments nearing five millions dollars and over 1.3 million already received.

In 1998, The Vestry of St. Paul’s Church and the Whaley Children's Center Community Board together agreed to change the corporate structure thus allowing Whaley Children's Center to operate separately from the church. The Vestry, as Trustees of the Whaley Memorial Foundation, recognized that the future of the Children’s Center required an involved and active board of Directors. They knew the time was right to let us stand on our own. This separation plan was approved by Genesee County Probate Court in January 1999. The vestry and members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church voted on the plan at their annual meeting in February of 1999. New articles of Incorporation were filed with the state before The Board of Directors of Whaley Children’s Center approved their new bylaws in June of 1999. The wardens and vestry of St. Paul’s Church, as directed by the will, retained the remainder of the original Whaley fund. Whaley Children's Center controls the operating assets, buildings and endowment funds.

Although the times have changed, the mission of Whaley Children's Center remains as vital today as it did in 1926. The need to serve “dependent and neglected children” and especially those “in trouble because of behavioral conditions” is being successfully met because of our rich history of community, volunteer, board and staff commitment.