Bradenton's SOLVE maternity home renamed after founder Helen Cadoret
BRADENTON -- Her friends say the late Helen Cadoret was determined in the 1970s to do something about the number of women and teens she met in Bradenton who were pregnant and in need of a safe place to stay.
Cadoret started SOLVE Maternity Home in a duplex in 1976 in Bayshore Gardens but in 1982 SOLVE purchased a now 100-year-old large single home in need of renovation at 1509 Eighth Ave. W., Bradenton. SOLVE paid $75,000 for the house, which is in the Ballard Park area of historic Wares Creek, just minutes from downtown Bradenton, according to SOLVE records.
On Sunday, that home, which has been upgraded by volunteers over the decades and has held hundreds of mothers, babies and mentors within its walls under the name "Solve House," was re-dedicated and renamed "Helen's Home" in honor of Cadoret.
A new porch on Helen's Home, which was recently redone by volunteer Marek Bauer, also was dedicated Sunday. SOLVE also has a second large home next door to Helen's Home which they built after a dilapidated structure was raised a few years ago.
"Helen knew she had to do something but she didn't know what," Brian Kerwin, SOLVE development director, told the crowd. "She started SOLVE, and now SOLVE now has become one of the largest residential programs of this type in the nation. Today, going into the fifth decade of this organization, we decided we would honor Helen and her husband, Roland, who was a World War II veteran."
"It's a joyous feeling to know we are doing this for Helen," added Kerwin, whose wife, Peggy, is SOLVE's longtime executive director.
The crowd of nearly 100 sat under a tent at the rededication at the home and enjoyed lunch courtesy of St. Francis Cabrini Knights of Columbus, Holy Smokes BBQ and Kiwanis of North Manatee County. They heard several guest speakers praise Cadoret and SOLVE for its work and its staying power.
The organization, which takes no federal funding, is now in its 40th year and has grown to four homes in Manatee and Sarasota counties, which are licensed through the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Patrick Roff, Bradenton city councilman for Ward 3, said that besides the obvious difference SOLVE has made in the life of women and babies, the organization also has improved the community surrounding it, which falls in his district.
"SOLVE has always been the anchor of the community," Roff said. "In spite of all the ups and downs we have had in Ballard Park, they have always been very stable. I was very happy when they built their property on the corner where their used to be an eye-sore property that got condemned and now we have this beautiful new home on the corner. They are doing good deeds. They just couldn't be better neighbors."
Dawn's story
The crowd at the re-dedication included women who had lived in SOLVE House.
One was Dawn Chaney, 59, who moved to Bradenton with her family in the 1970s where she met a man and moved to New Port Richey, she said. She found out she was pregnant in 1978.
"Things turned in a different direction, and they were trying to talk me into an abortion," Chaney said at Sunday's event. "That's not what I wanted."
She returned to her family in Bradenton but got a cold reception.
"At that time, family was not very happy about unwed mothers," Chaney said.
She had nobody.
"I was beside myself," Chaney said. "I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to."
She found her way to a church where she went inside, sat in a pew and started to cry, she said. A woman came out of nowhere and put a hand on her shoulder and asked her what was the matter. The woman directed Chaney to Cadoret.
"Helen was the only one who cared," Chaney said. "Helen took me in. They had just opened up a little duplex that was the very first SOLVE House. There were four of us girls. It was absolutely amazing. When you have nowhere to go and no one to turn to this angel came from nowhere. She loved us."
Cadoret made sure Chaney and the other three girls got prenatal medical care, Chaney said. The four girls were fed nutritional food.
"Helen really put her heart out there," Chaney said. "She was like a mother to me. She helped me find God again."
The girl baby that Chaney was carrying turned 37 in October, lives in Bradenton and has given Chaney a grandson, now 13, who Chaney said is the light of her life now.
Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him on Twitter at RichardDymond.
This story was originally published November 8, 2015 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Bradenton's SOLVE maternity home renamed after founder Helen Cadoret ."