Linda White found a family at Hutton that helped her overcome a tumultuous and tragic childhood. “I think the biggest difference is that the staff really cares,” she said. “They actually try to make it a family environment.”

Respect for others, accountability, a strong work ethic and responsibility are all things Dan Race said he learned during his time at Hutton.

“No matter how you’re feeling inside you can always make someone else feel better,” said Rose McCollum, who arrived at Hutton in 1986 with her two sisters when she was 10.

“I was looking at my suitcase and I thought, ‘What is going to happen to me?’” Ken Dunlap said. “When you’re an orphaned kid you never know what’s going to happen to you – it’s out of your control.”

More than 1,500 children have grown up on Hutton’s campus over its 100-year history. Among those kids are alumni, some in their 90s and others who are recent high school graduates. Many look back at their time at Hutton as transformational. Today, we share four profiles of the countess people Hutton has helped.

Before Babe Ruth’s granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti, threw out the first pitch at the Hutton Settlement’s alumni baseball game on Saturday, she heard a story about her grandfather’s 1924 visit to the Spokane Valley home for children.

Linda Ruth Tosetti found her grip, and with her right hand threw a lofting strike into the glove of catcher Francisco Ventura.

It’s been 91 years since Levi William “L.W.” Hutton last visited his century-old children’s home in Spokane Valley. But after Friday’s centennial celebration, in which the bright, bronze statue depicting the late philanthropist was unveiled to the world, you might say he has returned to the bucolic and historic campus that has provided long-term care to kids for a century.

Louise M. Sergeant wrote an editorial essay extolling one of the most highly anticipated endeavors in the region: the Hutton Settlement orphanage east of Spokane.