In 1965, Clara Chamberlain started a home for special needs babies in the city of Santa Clara. Over the years, the need for foster care for behaviorally disturbed children increased. Many children were not succeeding in a normal foster care setting having experienced multiple placements prior to coming to her home.
Soon it appeared that the residential care program needed to be complimented with a unique scholastic program. Targeting special education, Mrs. Chamberlain created a school for the children in her care.
In 1969, the Chamberlain’s moved to San Martin where Chamberlain's Children Center was formed as a nonprofit corporation. Chamberlain’s was legally incorporated in 1976.
Chamberlain’s moved to its current site in Hollister in the mid-1980s and continues to honor Mrs. Chamberlain’s legacy by the addition of building a Health, Wellness and Nutrition Center in the building that was her residence.
