Jamie Wells contacted One Hope United as she was traveling to Illinois to do some genealogy on her great grandmother. Her great grandmother Caroline “Susie” Wilkins lived at the Hudelson Residential Home as a youth after being abandoned at the local train station by her biological mother. Susie was born on Jan. 1, 1904. She was adopted at the age of four and lived at our Hudelson Residential Home until approximately 1909. Susie died in 2007 at the age of 103.

It was only fate that Vickie McDaniel, office manager for One Hope United, was able to locate Susie’s file for them.

“All files this old were destroyed in the boiler explosion in Irvington back in the 1930s,” said Vickie. “For some odd reason, this file survived. It was a very emotional moment for this family…they visited for about an hour. Gerald gave a cash donation to One Hope United. I was glad I was here to visit with them on Friday and answer all their questions.”

Pictured: Jamie traveled from Delaware with her dad Jerry Baldwin, her aunt Carolyn Correll, her grandfather Gerald and his wife Peggy Baldwin, to visit Susie’s childhood home at OHU.