Our Mission

Collins Home’s mission is the rescue children and families in crisis.

“Within a community of Christian values, Collins Children’s Home & Family Ministries cares for children and supports families in an atmosphere that instills feelings of acceptance, safety, permanence, dignity, and joy while teaching important life skills and a work ethic that will enable them to be productive members of society.”

Our Vision Statement

Collins Home provides a Christ-centered home for children between the ages of 2 – 21 who are in need of a stronger family support system.  Our goal is the spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social and physical development of our children, and the eventual reunification with their natural families whenever possible.

Our History

In 1977, Joe and Anne Rackley began a spiritual journey, which led them to answer the Lord’s call to establish the Roxie Anna Collins Children’s Home Ministry, which was later renamed to Collins Home & Family Ministries. The Home was named for Joe’s grandmother, a devout Christian and pastor’s wife, who lived all of her 93 years in Oconee County.

Following much research and legal work involving licensing and chartering, the Rackleys began construction of their home in 1979, on property Joe purchased years before in Oconee County. An engineer, Joe used his technical skills to construct the original residence to care for children who could no longer live in their own homes. In 1980, Joe and Anne welcomed their first resident – an eight year-old girl to the home.

For 18 years Joe and Anne, along with their daughter Kimberly, ministered to over 50 children. Several months after Kimberly married Mike Kunz in 1996, they became houseparents and functioned in that capacity for over a year.

Joe and Anne came to realize that if the ministry was going to live past their lifetime, they needed to move the ministry from their personal home to a ministry site. In 1998, Collins Home was relocated to a 26-acre piece of property donated by the Tribble Foundation, and construction was completed on the Roxie Anna Collins Home that would provide the same loving environment that Joe and Anne created for so many years.

In April 2000, Joe and Anne began their journey toward retirement. Although they are not involved in the day-to-day operations of the ministry, they are still very much involved in the children’s lives. Currently Alena Pelfrey is our Executive Director.

 In April 2001, the Rackley Family Enrichment Center was completed. It is the center of the ministry’s outreach program. It offers counseling opportunities to struggling families in the community. There is also space for the children to utilize for tutoring and to do computer work as well as a well-stocked library. Meeting spaces are available for the children, houseparents, staff, and others involved with the ministry to utilize for group dinners, meetings, training sessions, etc. There is also office space for the administrative staff.

In 2002, the Golden Brothers Home was completed on the permanent campus. It is very similar in design to the Roxie Anna Collins Home and provides residential care for eight boys.