Elizabeth City, North Carolina (April 1, 1905 -December 18, 1992) age 87 yrs

Clara McBride Hale was the founder of Hale House. It is a nationally recognized groundbreaking foster care facility. The facility cares for addicted children and drug-addicted mothers in Harlem, New York. While raising her children in Harlem, Hale developed a deep sympathy for abandoned and neglected children. In the 1940s, she began providing short-term and long-term care for community children in her home. She also found permanent homes for homeless children and taught parents essential parenting skills. In 1960, she became a licensed foster parent, providing care for hundreds of children in her home. Hale’s success as a foster parent earned her the affectionate nickname of ‘Mother Hale’. In 1969, Hale became a foster parent of an infant addicted to cocaine. Word spread and soon ‘Mother Hale’s’ apartment was filled with babies. Hale’s unique program required mothers to live in Hale House with their children and attend a drug rehabilitation program. In the 1980s, Hale expanded Hale House services. She included care for infants stricken with HIV. These were infants who had lost parents to AIDS. Hale actively cared for the children of Hale House until her death at age 87.