San Mar Family And Community Services

San Mar creating hope & well-being On Nov 8, 1883, the Washington County Orphan’s Home opened its doors in Hagerstown Maryland. Since that time San Mar has touched the lives of over 4000 children. By the early 1920s the aging facility on S Potomac Street was no longer adequate to serve the growing program. In 1923, through the generosity of a local businessman, a modern orphanage was built 10 miles away in the rural community of San Mar, just outside Boonsboro. The new facility provided the means to help more children. It was another 54 years, in 1981, when the home officially became “The San Mar Children’s Home.” Today it is in its third century of nonstop service of caring for children who have known trauma and loss. The mission has grown beyond providing a safe home for children in need to that of cultivating hope and well-being in children, families and community. San Mar operates three distinct programs in our community. San Mar’s Treatment Foster Care provides care for up to 50 boys/girls. There is a need to license more families to accommodate the diverse needs of these children. Individuals & families are also needed for short-term respite care. Through our Bester Community of Hope program we have now begun going to those families who are at high-risk of having their children removed & placed in the foster care system. By taking the initiative to go to these families before they disintegrate and helping them to build strengths we are not only keeping families intact, but helping communities to grow stronger. Our Jack E Barr Center for Well-Being is a fully licensed outpatient mental health clinic, located on our Boonsboro campus. It offers individual, family, couple and group therapy. A professional staff of psychiatrists & clinical social workers serves our Washington County community. Call us to find out more of the story. We have many volunteers who help us regularly. Be assured we need and welcome partners who can join with us in our mission of hope. There certainly is a lot to do.