Mission and
History

Our mission is to help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their children successfully rejoin the community, reunify with their families, and build healthy, independent, and secure lives.

Hour Children’s name acknowledges the key hours that impact the life of a child with an incarcerated mother – the hour of her arrest, the hour of their visit, and the hour of their reunification.

In 1986, Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, CSJ, helped develop a home in Long Island City, Queens for children whose mothers were incarcerated. Sister Tesa got to know the mothers when she brought their children to visit, and quickly realized that the women would need additional support if they were to successfully reunite with their children after their release. Incorporated in 1992, Hour Children has since become a leading provider of prison- and community-based family services to support women and children as they reunite, stabilize, and transform their lives