St. Mary's Child Center was founded in 1961 by a group of concerned parents who saw an urgent need for quality services for children with learning and emotional difficulties.  St. Mary’s Child Center began providing intensive, high quality early intervention to the children as well as support, mentoring, and education to the families.

In 1986, the 22 children and staff were in a dangerously dilapidated building.  The walls were literally falling down.  With little money to continue their efforts, and not much hope, the staff was hoping for a miracle.  That miracle arrived in the form of 33 generous community leaders who are now referred to as St. Mary’s Child Center’s first “Godparents”.  What they accomplished is an epic tale of good heartedness, good fortune, and series of mysterious miracles that resulted in what Bob Thompson, called “the biggest little building in Indianapolis”.

St. Mary’s Child Center has grown since 1986.  We now operate both an Early Childhood Program and a Diagnostic Clinic.  In 1998 we expanded our program in response to the increasing demands for our services.  Today, we serve 200 three to five year old disadvantaged, at-risk children and their families and 110 school-aged children in need of diagnostic services annually.   There are two sites for the Early Childhood Program:  901 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street (downtown Indianapolis) and 9230 Hawkins at Fort Benjamin Harrison on the northeast side of Marion County.  The Diagnostic Clinic is located downtown.