Nonfiction
The House That Chocolate Built unfolds the journey that houseparents take as they work every day at the largest boarding school for kids in poverty of its kind in the world.
Founded in 1909 by chocolate magnate Milton S. Hershey and his wife Catherine, the Milton Hershey School has become one of the most remarkable institutions in American history — a fully funded boarding school for children in poverty, supported entirely by the revenues of the Hershey Company and Hershey Entertainment & Resorts. Over 110 years old, it has enrolled more than 18,000 students.
But what is it actually like to live there — not as a student, but as a houseparent? The House That Chocolate Built answers that question with honesty, warmth, and depth. Deanna Slamans spent 15 years as a houseparent at Milton Hershey School, and this book tells the real story of what it means to pour your life into children who need more than a classroom can give.
"Every child who walks through those doors is entrusted to someone who chooses, every single day, to show up for them."
For anyone curious about the school, interested in child welfare, or called to the work of caring for vulnerable youth — this book is a window into a world most people never see.
