The History of Brookwood Florida
1927
Brookwood opens it doors. Brookwood initially started as a safe place for unwed mothers. It was chartered as a Florence Crittenton Home and young women from all over the U.S. east coast were told to board a train and remain boarded until the tracks ended in Florida. At the end of the tracks, the young women were told to get off and cross the road. On the other side, the girls would walk into a large home that would be a safe harbor until they gave birth.
1976
The name changes to A Young Women’s Residents, Inc. and the goals were shifted. The emotional needs of adolescent girls surfaced as an unmet community need. Girls between the ages of 13 – 18 who had been abused, abandoned, neglected, impregnated, or involved in family crisis were referred for placement.