God used tragedy to provide hope for generations of future children. In 1891 Dr. J.C. Maxwell and his wife, Sarah, were mourning the loss of their daughter Connie. The Maxwell’s only child to survive infancy, Connie tragically died of scarlet fever at age seven. Connie was their last chance at raising a child of their own. The Maxwell’s knew the South Carolina Baptist Convention was talking about opening an orphanage, so to honor Connie they donated their 450-acre farm in Greenwood, SC to be used for an orphanage bearing Connie’s name.
Today Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries tends to the physical needs of children by providing housing, food, and clothing within a safe community of group homes and through a network of foster parents. They provide family care services to meet emotional and relational needs, and try to reunite children with their birth families. Now the organization reaches outward from Greenwood, to Florence (Pee Dee Girl’s Home), Mauldin (Marie Younts Girl’s Home), Chesterfield (Adams Emergency Care Crisis Center), and they are currently looking for a property to start a Charleston campus.
For more information visit the Connie Maxwell Children Ministries website at