Kira, Kaylee, Jaliyah, Dennis Erskine, Louie Henderson, Debra Nicholson, Amber, and Deborah Erskine. Bottom row: Caitlin Sloan
It’s 40 miles, one way, from Louie Henderson’s home in Prosperity to Connie Maxwell Children’s Home. It’s a road he knows well because he travels it often to show his love for the girls who live on the Greenwood campus in the Brown Cottage.
“I enjoy doing it. No one makes me, and don’t have to. But I enjoy doing it and I know the girls appreciate it,” says Henderson.
Henderson, a member of Pine Ridge Baptist Church, in Whitmire, became familiar with Connie Maxwell because of his pastor. Rev. Kenny Weaver lived in the Brown Cottage at Connie Maxwell for 12 years as a child and suggested that Pine Ridge Baptist Church consider helping the ministries there. For the last 10 years, the church has ‘adopted’ the residents of Brown Cottage, which has included providing Christmas presents and a Walmart gift card for each of the girls on their birthday. Henderson estimates the church has blessed 40 different girls through the church’s ministry there.
“I do it because I love the girls, and I know all of them. I may not remember their names, but they call me ‘Mr. Louie’ and every one of them knows my name,” he says.
Henderson keeps a list of the girls’ names and birthdates and, as their special day approaches, he gets to work. He orders a cake with the girls’ names on it from a local grocery store bakery, and asks the bakers to make it ‘pretty, like something they would make for their own child.’ Henderson wouldn’t want the recognition but admits he pays for the cakes and cards himself.
“There were two graduates in the Brown Cottage last year, so I got them a senior cake with their school colors. I surprised the girls and had a little graduation party for them. Two more will graduate this year,” he says.
The impact of both Henderson and Pine Ridge Baptist Church on the lives of the residents of Brown Cottage runs deep. The girls look forward to visiting with Henderson and regularly send thank you cards to him and to the church.
“Mr. Louie keeps every card we send him. He calls frequently to check on us and always asks about the girls, oftentimes calling them by name. He keeps a list of all of the girls’ names and asks about girls that have been gone now several years. I am so touched by this simple act,” says Deborah Erskine who, along with her husband Dennis, have served as Brown Cottage parents for the last 12 years. Deborah recently retired from Connie Maxwell over the summer.
“Mr. Louie and his church were already sponsoring the Brown Cottage when we came to Connie Maxwell. They have given us money to help provide a beach vacation one summer, invited us for cookouts at their church, and have taken us out to eat several times,” adds Erskine.
Each spring, Henderson and his family take the Erskines and the girls from the cottage out to eat and pays for the meal himself. During strawberry season, he stops by a farm near his home and then heads straight to Connie Maxwell. He says the girls love strawberries and mentions he’s already made three surprise strawberry trips this year alone.
“The farm donates the strawberries, but I give them money to help cover their costs. Recently I brought them strawberries while they were in school, but they knew I’d been there when they saw the strawberries,” Henderson says.
“Our girls – like any teenagers – love getting things, but I think what they love the most about Mr. Louie is that he gets in his car and drives 40 minutes to see them. He engages in their life. It might only be a few minutes, but those few minutes have eternal value. He makes them feel special and, for that alone, makes me know that he is special. I will always be his greatest fan,” Erskine admits.
One year, the Brown Cottage surprised Mr. Louie by taking him out for pizza to celebrate his birthday. Erskine says the girls were especially excited to sign a card for him, and then deliver it together to him in person. Once, when Henderson was hospitalized for several months, Erskine took the girls to visit him.
“When I was in the hospital, they brought me a card and a framed picture of Deborah, Dennis, and the girls,” Henderson recalls.
“In all our years of working in child care, we’ve had the great privilege of being supported and prayed for by many wonderful people known as sponsors. They have loved on us and our girls and done wonderful things for us. We have been blessed, and Mr. Louie is one of those blessings. We know he loves us. We feel it in every visit, every phone call, every cake, and strawberry,” says Erskine.
For his part, Henderson says he recommends that everyone consider volunteering at Connie Maxwell. “Anyone volunteering there will be well-blessed. God has blessed me for going over there. There’s not one child over there that I wouldn’t do anything in the world for,” Henderson says.
