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King’s Home held a ribbon on May 7 at the Chelsea campus to dedicate the girl’s Moderate Youth Program House as the Martin Woodside Home in honor of donor Jane Franks. (Reporter photo/Noah Wortham)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor 

CHELSEA – Representatives of King’ Home gathered together in celebration and dedication of the newly renovated Martin Woodside Home which will offer a secure place of respite for young girls.

King’s Home held a ribbon cutting on May 7 at the Chelsea campus to dedicate the girl’s Moderate Youth Program House as the Martin Woodside Home in honor of donor Jane Franks.

“Because of Mrs. Frank’s giving heart, King’s Home youth can enjoy a secure, newly decorated and comfortable home as they transition toward healing and wholeness,” King’s Home President Lew Burdette said.

The Martin Woodside Home is one of four homes for girls living at the Chelsea campus of King’s Home. The boys and girls youth homes are structured for up to eight peoples, ages 12-21.

“We’re helping teenagers at a time in life when they need help the most,” Burdette said. “There’s not anybody here that hasn’t needed help along the way in life, we all have. We’ve all needed help along the way in life and so what a blessing (it is) when we can stand together in the gap at those times in life.”

The Martin Woodside Home is freshly renovated and marks the third home at King’s Home that Franks has funded for renovation since 2020. Franks previously supported updating the Girl’s Transitional Living Facility in 2020, Jane’s House and the Johnston Home in December 2022.

“God has provided for me and this is a way for me to offer these girls something they didn’t have—a special place where they would feel loved and safe,” Franks said.

Franks had the opportunity to name the renovated home and after some thinking, she decided to name it after a combination of its woodside location in tandem with the name of her grandfather, Martin Johnston.

“I’m proud to name it Martin Woodside Home and I think if he were standing here today, he would tell you all to be sure to help those people who are less fortunate,” Franks said.

The King’s Home Moderate Youth program is the organization’s largest youth program serving a daily maximum of 68 youth ages 11-21. Youth in King’s Home care are placed by the Alabama Department of Human Resources and 98 percent of its residents have experienced abuse and suffer from behavioral and emotional health issues.

As an organization, King’s Home aims to serve and glorify God by providing Christ-centered homes and services in which compassion and competence combine to meet the needs of women, children and families, operating 21 residential group homes on six campuses in four counties. In 2023, 257 women, teens and children found refuge and hope at King’s Home.

“Our goal is to offer hope, healing, therapeutic services and safe, loving, Christ-centered homes,” Burdette said.

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