How Clara McBride Hale Founded Hale House in Harlem
Do you know the story of Clara McBride Hale, also known as “Mother Hale”? She founded the Hale House in Harlem; it was a home for unwanted children and children who were born addicted to drugs.
She originally opened her house as a day-care to make a living; however, this eventually led her to find her life calling. Hale became known as a mother to those who did not have one. She began taking children in who were born addicted to their mother’s drug habits during pregnancy. She, along with her daughter Lorraine, and sons Nathan and Kenneth, gave themselves tirelessly to the task of healing the lives of addicted children and parents in Harlem. Mother Hale kept the frailest of the infants in her own bedroom; cradling them and walking the floors all night when necessary to comfort each one through the painful experience of detoxification. This lovely Baptist woman once said, "When I get to heaven, I’m going to rest," but she knew that, for the moment, she had a nobler task.
Clara eventually purchased a larger building and devoted her life to caring for needy children. She took them in … free of charge and would raise them as if they were her own. Once they were healthy she would help to find families interested in adoption. She took it upon herself to make sure the families were a correct fit and even in some cases turned families down if she thought they could not provide a good enough home for the child.
Clara Hale spent 52 years helping over 1,000 drug-addicted babies, young children, and mothers.
Do you think God might want to use you to bring healing to another person?
From a sermon by Ken Pell, Priests of the Kingdom, 6/1/2010