Photo by Jessica Stewart / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Carol Sanders, associate member of the Ladies Union Benevolent Association board, left, and Janet Steury, active member of the LUBA board, right, look at the renovations done to the talent room in the basement of the Noyes Home for Children on Tuesday.

These days, the Noyes Home for Children is looking much brighter.

After a series of renovations made possible by fundraisers and private donors, the towering brick home boasts sleek wood floors, stained-glass windows in a sun-filled parlor and a basement with a game room, art center and updated pipes and flooring. Visitors flooded the home Tuesday evening during an open house to see what changes had been made.

The Noyes Home, which was built in 1894 and still fulfills its original purpose as a “home for little wanderers,” is the only shelter of its kind in St. Joseph, and is managed by the Ladies Union Benevolent Association. Ray Carson, executive director of the Noyes Home, said it’s a place where kids can be kids and experience the things they may have missed out on because of financial hardships, abuse or neglect.

“We’ll have usually about 120 children a year. Many of them will come back two or three times,” Mr. Carson said, adding that 20 to 30 children usually stay in the home at any one time.

Mr. Carson said fundraising has been under way since 2004 with Take A Seat, a project where local artists created and sold original pieces of work on chairs, and the Christmas Makeover Project, where a local family adopted the Noyes home and concentrated on the renovation of one section of the house with help from the community.

Barbie Squires, president of LUBA, describes the renovations as a true grass-roots campaign that called on several individuals and families to help out in any way that they could.

“Very few, if any, existing buildings that old ... are still operating for the same function that it was built for,” Ms. Squires said. “That’s why we always need help renovating.”

Photo by Jessica Stewart / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Silhouettes of children who live at the Noyes home are on the walls along with a saying. The wall art was the idea of Kathy Hillyard, Ladies Union Benevolent Association member. It came about after renovations revealed silhouettes of children from the 1960s who were residents of the home, which were not salvageable because of water damage.

The last major renovation, made possible by LUBA, tackled the home’s kitchen about five years ago.

Jillian Koelliker, who graduated from Bishop LeBlond High School this spring, was one local artist who helped make the revamp possible through the Take A Seat fundraiser.

“It’s really cool,” Ms. Koelliker said of seeing the changes come to fruition. “I’m glad I can contribute.”

Taking a break from a pool tournament in the new game room, current resident Justin Auxier, 17, said the renovations make the house much more comfortable.

“I really like it a lot better than what we had before,” he said.