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House of Compassion · Grandview, Missouri

Every kid deserves a home. Not a facility.
For 14 years, we've been exactly that — for 16 Missouri teens at a time.

CARF-accredited residential care, wrapped in everyday life. Birthday cakes, college visits, family dinners, prom. The state pays for the treatment. We make sure they also get to be kids.

Support a childhoodFor referring professionals
16
Beds. One front door.
14 yrs
DSS-licensed since 2012
CARF
Nationally accredited
10–12 mo
Average length of stay

Find your path

Three ways in.

Different reasons bring people to our front door. Wherever you're coming from, here's where to go next.

01 — Supporters

Help us add the childhood.

The state pays for the clinical work. You make sure the kids get a real childhood — birthdays, prom, college tours, a graduation that means something.

See how it works →
02 — Referring professionals

Place a youth with us.

CARF-accredited, DSS-licensed, levels 2–3 residential. 10–12 month average stay. Direct intake line and downloadable referral packet.

Referral process →
03 — Families & community

See what daily life looks like.

What our program is, what it isn't, what a day at HOC actually feels like, and how families stay connected through it.

Inside our home →

Our story

“She gave up her own house to start HOC. She got far too little time. We've been continuing her work for fourteen years.”

House of Compassion was founded by Erika Peterson on May 5, 2012 — in a home she literally gave up to make it possible. She had been a foster parent for years and had spent her career with children in care. She had a specific picture of what these boys deserved: a strong foundation for the future, and love that knew when to be hard.

Erika passed not long after, following a second battle with breast cancer. The team committed that day to continuing her work. Fourteen years later, we hold a CARF accreditation, a DSS license in continuous standing, and a reputation among Children's Division case workers and the families HOC has served as one of the best in the area.

Founded by Erika Peterson · 2012

Read our story

The math is simple

The state pays for the treatment. We make sure they also get to be kids.

Missouri DSS funds the clinical work — therapy, school, psychiatric care, the team that earns our accreditation. Donations fund everything else. Specifically, these things.

$50
Sends a senior on a college tour.

Bus ticket, hotel, admissions visit. For most of our seniors, the first time anyone's taken them to look at a college.

$200
Funds a birthday weekend.

Cake, presents, a meal out, the small dignity of being made a fuss over on the day you were born. State doesn't pay for that.

$2,000
Launches a graduate.

First-month rent, a starter kitchen, work clothes, a laptop. What every kid leaving home gets from family. We become that family.

By the numbers

Outcomes that earn the referrals.

A snapshot of the work. Full breakdown — by year, by program goal, by post-discharge follow-up — lives on the Outcomes page.

Successful discharges
87%
Trailing 24 months
Family satisfaction
4.8 / 5
Post-discharge survey
Treatment goals met
76%
At time of discharge
Graduates pursuing post-secondary
63%
Class of 2024–25

All numbers placeholder pending real data — to be replaced from HOC's outcomes tracking.

What people say

Praised by the case workers who place them — and the families who get them back.

“In twelve years working placements in this region, HOC is the only home I've consistently fought to get my kids into. The clinical work is solid. The kids actually want to be there.”

L.M.Children's Division case worker · Jackson County

“My son left HOC with a high school diploma, a job, and — I don't know how else to say it — his sense of humor back. That place gave us our kid.”

K.R.Mother of HOC graduate · 2023