Our History

Noah's Ark Children's Village began with the vision of a group of individuals who wanted to make a difference in the lives of children who are in the Foster Care system through no fault of their own.  These children have been abused and neglected.  With this dream, in 1997, Joan Smith and others broke ground for the village on over 88-acres in Jeffersonville, Indiana. 

Let me give you some reasons why we need Noah's Ark Children's Village--in Indiana alone:

• Last year, 70 children died from abuse or neglect.
• 50% of our homeless population has come through the foster care system
• 85% of our juveniles in detention centers have come through foster care

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Our Vision

Our vision is to have a foster care village that can be replicated in other communities.  When finished, we will have 14 homes able to care for a maximum of 70 foster children, a lodge, a chapel, a barn, gardens, retirement community and lots of love for children.  Because we are an early intervention/prevention model, most of our children are young.  We believe that if an abused or neglected child can be placed in a loving, nurturing environment by age 7, there is better chance of recovery.  By utilizing this village model, we are able to offer not only our parents and children unmatched support, but also other foster parents and children in the area.  We are able to provide programs to meet their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs.  All of our children are offered individually-designed mental health programs and we hope will eventually include art therapy and hippo-therapy (hippo is Greek for horse).  Our goal is to offer children specialized tutoring for those who may have fallen behind in their studies.  It is certainly our goal to re-unify children with their birth parents when circumstances warrant.  For more information on placing a child with Noah's Ark, contact our Social Services Department or contact the Clark County Office of Family and Children (OFC).
 

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Our Progress

To date, we have completed five homes.  We have a fully-functioning lodge not to mention the great playground.  There are 13-acre wetland park and

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Our Logo

• Our logo represents a village.
• The homes represent stability.  They are connected, yet individual, to reflect that the children are raised in individual homes but part of a larger community. 
• The rays coming from the rooftop depicts the "rays of hope". 
• The flower represents the hope for a new life we give to each child.
• And, the smoke from the chimney represents warmth and caring that in coming from within.

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The children are looking towards shore with happy faces as the storm is in the background going out to sea.   These faces are a cross section of ages and race as we are open to serve all children. The rays of sun shining down from heaven are the rays of hope coming from the Son and illuminating the cross that depicts our Christian mission. 

As you look at the Ark you can see a “home” with some windows that resembles a home and some that resemble a chapel.  In addition you see a small animal shelter as well as the presence of various animals. 

All of this represents who we are and what we hope to become as outlined in our strategic plan. 

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