“It’s coming home,” Julie McGue said when she attended the annual Homecoming Mass and Reunion for adoptees from the former St. Vincent Orphanage — now home to Catholic Charities’ headquarters. Julie, along with her twin sister, were adopted in 1959 from St. Vincent’s Orphanage. Julie has authored three memoirs about her adoption journey and the support she’s received from Catholic Charities along the way.
At times emotional, the Homecoming Mass and Reunion brought together many who left the doors of St. Vincent’s as infants in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, only to return and meet others, connected by Lisa Francis, a 36-year social worker for Catholic Charities Post-Adoption Services.
“Many of you are back here for the first time since your original stay,” Lisa said at the start of the Homecoming Mass. “This is no ordinary building — this is St. Vincent’s. It’s always been filled with warmth and love. It is our hope, for the rest of the day, you feel that love.”
The Catholic Charities Post-Adoption team walks with families, honoring its long history of providing programs and services to those who were adopted at Catholic Charities, including search and reunion services, mediated communications between birth and adoptive families, individual counseling, support group meetings, and the Homecoming Mass and Reunion celebrating adoptees.
Julie was among nearly 100 reunion guests Sunday, September 21, 2025, who included adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, and former childcare staff. Many guests traveled from across the country to reconnect with their birthplace. Catholic Charities staff and volunteers offered building tours and visits to the St. Louise de Marillac Chapel’s baptismal font where they received their first sacrament, shared nostalgic photos, hosted a Homecoming Mass, a candlelit procession, and a reception where guests connected and shared stories of their journeys.
Founded in 1881 by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the orphanage served women and children with the support of Catholic Charities social services until it closed in 1972 when the state moved to a foster care model. St. Vincent’s Infant and Maternity Hospital was a starting point for babies born to teen and single mothers, left as foundlings by its doors, or serving as temporary housing for children who could no longer be supported by their families due to war, poverty, and illness. Serving 232 children and 35+ mothers-to-be at a time, St. Vincent’s was a safe haven for many — serving “tens of thousands” of children over the decades, Lisa said. Its history is filled with memories of babies in buggies being trotted down Michigan Avenue, its halls filled with children’s laughter and music from the young childcare technicians who cared for the children as if they were their very own.
Adoptee Stories
Joseph “Joey” Wood makes it a priority to leave his home state of Arkansas, where he served as a county judge, ran for Lieutenant Governor and now as chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, to return to Chicago every year for the reunion at St. Vincent’s to connect with other adoptees he considers “my brothers and sisters.”
“This is what ties us, this is where we got our start,” Joey said of St. Vincent’s. He was found as a newborn in a Chicago apartment building and brought to St. Vincent’s in 1965. He authored two children’s books and a documentary about his journey, and with the help of a prominent forensic scientist and genealogist, he finally connected with his birth family just three years ago after a DNA test. He now attends reunions with his extended family and was joined by his birth sister at the Catholic Charities Homecoming Mass and Reunion.
“We share this common piece that sometimes our adoptive families don’t understand,” Joey said. “We have a fellowship to connect with others who get it, they get the journey you’re on because they’re on that journey, too.
“Plus, it’s important for me to support Catholic Charities; they do the hard work,” Joey said. “I spent a lot of time in public service and government, and as much as they attempt to do this work, they can’t put the heart of it that Christ put in it. This is a calling.”
Julie witnessed the courageous compassion by the Catholic Charities Post-Adoption Services early on.
“The incredible compassion demonstrated by Catholic Charities didn’t stop with their insisting on adopting my sister and me into the same family,” Julie said. “Through its Post-Adoption Services, the organization continues to minister to me.”
Julie began her search for her birth family soon after the state of Illinois made original birth certificates available to adoptees in 2011. She began participating in quarterly support groups led by Catholic Charities Post-Adoption Services and found strength in the peer support from other adoptees on the same journey.
“I got involved with Catholic Charities Post-Adoption services … because I needed to understand why my birth mom didn’t want to know us and my adoptive mom was not supporting me finding my birth mom,” Julie said. Through the support groups, she discovered empathy for the unique experience of birth parents, and for the challenges adoptive parents have in parenting.
“I wrote the book to not just tell my story, but all of the people here,” Julie said of their shared journeys. “We’ve all struggled so hard to find our story, to make contact with birth relatives, it’s important for me to be a spokesperson about it.”
If you would like the support of the Catholic Charities Post-Adoption Services, call (312) 655-7088 or email Lisa Francis, LCSW, lfrancis@catholiccharities.net
To find out more about the history of St. Vincent’s Orphanage, visit:
St. Vincent’s Orphanage: Adoption History