A room of Rockland residents and some out-of-towners took their seats in the conference room of New City Library to listen to what a lady, all the way from San Diego, had to say.

Nancy Canfield spoke about her book Home Kids: The Story of St. Agatha Home for Children. St. Agatha was a group home for destitute children from New York City, either orphaned or from troubled families.

“It (the book) was very, very good,” said Joan Brooks, who came out to hear Canfield speak. “I’m a local resident, born and raised in Rockland. That’s why I’m interested in local history.”

Writing the Book

“I originally planned to write children books,” Canfield said. However, after being introduced to Classmates.com, she started digging for former St. Agatha mates.

“When I left St. Agatha, I just kept going. Like a lot of us, we just went on with our lives.

“She approached me about ten years ago for direction and ideas about where to find information about St. Agatha Home. Little did I know then, that she would keep digging and eventually publish her book, Home Kids,” said Robert Protzman of the Rockland Historical Society. “The book was originally three times bigger than it is now.” Home Kids was published in 2005.

Canfield’s History with St. Agatha

In March 1965, Nancy Canfield and four of her eight siblings were sent to St. Agatha Home. She was 13 years old.

“My interest in St. Agatha came from the fact that five of us siblings went to live there,” she said. “My father passed away … they gave him the wrong kind of blood in the hospital. That left my mother a widow with nine children. She was a so grief-stricken that she began drinking and she never stopped.”

Canfield, her mom and her siblings lost their home in a fire, moved from place to place until a few relatives stepped in with the court system and relocated the children to St. Agatha.

St. Agatha was one of several group homes for children. Just next to Nanuet in Spring Valley, the Happy Valley Colony. Street kids from New York City were relocated here. One such child was Tom Riley who attended Canfield’s book talk. He also wrote about his experiences in his book Happy Valley School: a History and Memorandum

St. Agatha Today

“Unfortunately the institution was closed in 2005 so all that remains is just a few of the buildings,” said Protzman.

Canfield explained that it was closed because the dynamics of children rearing had changed and now it was shown that kids do better in smaller group homes closer to their families. The institution also lost funding from NYC.

After some researching, there were enough St. Agatha members to put together a reunion.

“2000 was my first reunion,” said Canfield.

“She’s been active in a number of reunions, the latest one being yesterday (Saturday, June 4), in which over 200 former residents and their families attended,” added Protzman.

The gazebo pavilions at St. Agatha, known today as the Nanuet Outdoor Education Center, were where St. Agatha kids would wait and visit with their parents who came up to visit from the city on the weekends. Brick pavers around those pavilions are sold to pay for reunions.

Canfield also created the site www.stagathahome.org to help reunite St. Agatha kids.