Porter-Leath has off-site program locations including Head Start facilities on American Way and in the Douglass neighborhood, as well as CareerPlace in Whitehaven.
Generous Memphis women donated spare furniture, homemade quilts, a wood-burning cook stove and other equipment to the Orphanage.
Mrs. Leath, a wealthy Memphis woman and member of First Presbyterian Church, had shown concern for the plight of orphans in the community.
A two-story brick building (now the Shainberg Room) was completed on June 4, 1856, and became home to fourteen children; seven boys and seven girls.
Upon Mrs. Leath's death in 1858, her Estate provided the orphanage with twenty additional acres of land and money to start an Orphan's Educational Fund.
Miss Ward, who manifested a real mother's love for the children in her care, remained as matron of the Orphanage for seventeen years.
Also, as a result of the war, the city's churchwomen could no longer contribute to the Home's support or pay Miss Ward's salary.
Beginning in 1873 and continuing through 1879, the deadly fever killed more than 8,000 Memphis citizens [at least 2,000 in 1873; more than 5,200 in 1878; and 500 plus in 1879] and, by the late 1870s, resulted in closure of the town's businesses when more than half of the population left the city.
In 1875, the Odd Fellows of Memphis organized a national subscription of funds to erect a large and impressive three-story brick building.
[5] During his lifetime, Edwin Gould continued to send the Orphanage sums of money annually for the upkeep of the building and assisted in the improvement the institution's other property.
The Exchange Club began to furnish the home with the services of a pediatrician, arranged for the children to receive proper dental care, supplied each child with monthly spending money, gave an annual summer Watermelon Party and an Easter Egg Hunt, and presented a gift to each child on his\her birthday, as well as provided the traditional tree and entertainment for the Christmas Eve Party.
Even though the Depression years were difficult financially for private organizations dedicated to helping children, institutions like the Porter Home and Leath Orphanage continued diligently in their efforts.
Institutional care for orphans became rare largely due to the availability of Social Security benefits and Public Assistance Programs.
In the early 1960s, during the tenure of Mr. Paul Sawrie as Director, Porter-Leath Home again went through a long-term renovation and up-grade of their physical plant including: a remodeling of the inside of the old laundry building (which was situated east of the main building) into an up-to-date meeting hall for parents visiting children and the installation of a three-chair barbershop, a scout workroom, and modern restrooms for girls and boys.
The playground equipment was rearranged and placed in a larger area of open ground and new swings were installed, also with the help of the Memphis Park Commission.
For example, the Home's Director Paul Sawrie expressed concern that Porter-Leath needed a casework service to supplement its small-group system of child-care.
Although the Home's Director, its Boards of Trustees and managers realized the necessity to modernize its child-care efforts, they wanted to do so with minimal changes to Porter-Leath's traditional customs.
By 1965, an evaluation of the Porter-Leath Home by the Department of Public Welfare strongly recommended the institution update its services from just providing custodial care to a multiple-program format for children.
Since 1969, Porter-Leath has changed the focus of its services and developed new programs to meet the ever-changing needs of children and families in the Memphis community.
In 1987, Porter-Leath, in collaboration with the Memphis/Shelby County Health Department, received a five-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to begin on-site services at Northside High School.
As enrollment dropped, the Northside Infant Care Center became fiscally unviable and closed its doors at the end of the 1997 school year.
In addition to the services provided by Porter-Leath's Employment Training Program, in 1996 the After Care Project was implemented to assist youth who have been emancipated from custody.
The support provided through Employment Training for Teens and the After Care Project gave youth the tools needed to become self-sufficient, productive and independent.
In late May 2000, the Independent Living program moved into a totally renovated and updated large four-square brick home on the southwest corner of North Parkway and Dunlap.
Not only did PL restore the usefulness of this structure and aid in the renewal of this area of the community, but also gave the young men at Independent Living a much larger, totally updated and healthy environment for growth.
In approximately 1990, the National Council of Jewish Women began exploring the idea of bringing the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) to Memphis.
In March 2001, PL received an expansion grant for Early Head Start to increase its number of children in the program to 95 and entered into a contract with Metropolitan Inter Faith Association (MIFA) to operate an Early Head Start center for 27 children at its Les Passees Center.
In June 2006, the Early Head Start Center received accreditation for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
In 2002 the long-dormant and uninhabitable South Annex building was renovated using a Housing and Community Development Grant and brought a new walking track to the campus.
Housed at the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, the PLECF was developed to create a better tool for raising funds to sustain the Agency.