EAST CHICAGO | Shawn slept soundly, unaware of his newfound fame.

The month-old boy is the 100th baby to arrive at Nazareth Home, a foster facility for babies and children.

Shawn, whose blue shirt bore an airplane reading, "On my way," was moved from one pair of arms to another volunteer's lap.

The newcomer joined plump-cheek Nathaneal, who ate dried cereal from his high chair, little Ashia and 1-year-old Joy.

"My dream was to work with babies," said Sister Barbara Kuper, Nazareth's director who was a day care worker for 20 years. "Once I walked in the door, and they handed me a baby, that was it. I was sold."

Kuper, who has been aboard since Nazareth's beginnings in 1993, said the facility originally was set up for children who were medically compromised and at risk.

Now children are removed from their homes to Nazareth Home dependent on family emergencies or medical situations, she said.

Some youngsters go back to their families or they are adopted, Kuper said as she held Nathaneal, who delighted in making noise from crumbled paper.

At times, children's stays have been from one day to four years.

The home can accommodate up to six children who range in age from newborn to 5 years old.

"The greatest thing is we can give more intimate attention," Kuper said.

Children are welcomed into a child-proof home full of toys, child-sized furniture, books and volunteers who are known as "cuddlers."

In 2001, Nazareth Home built an addition from funds received through a city grant, enlarging the home to seven rooms and a full basement, she said.

"The children love to have their pictures taken," Kuper said as she walked through the not-so small gallery featuring smiling faces of a diverse group of children. "We create a life book on each child for their parents."

Donors and volunteers contribute toys and clothing, Kuper said while thumbing through neatly labeled outfits.

In August, the foster facility held a reunion that garnered about 20 to 30 children and their families from its 14-year history.

The state-licensed home is sponsored by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ and works in cooperation with the Lake County Department of Children and Family Services, said Toni Mola, a volunteer and administrator at Ancilla Systems Inc, which gives the home administrative support.

Nazareth Home has 10 staffers and several volunteers, two of whom have been on hand since its inception, Kuper said.

"When you're having a bad day and you see their smiling faces, it just changes your whole day," she said.