House ``dad'' Bill Marker opened on his computer screen an image of Superman battling Dragon Ball cartoon character Goku, while his 16-year-old charge, Roberto, looked on.

``It gets more distorted the bigger you make it,'' Marker explained. ``When you take a picture and stretch it, you lose what they call resolution.''

Nodding, Roberto took a printout of the image to the big dinner table and sat down to sketch his own version.

Like his seven housemates, Roberto doesn't have a father around to nurture his talents. But at the Kendall campus of Florida Baptist Children's Home, ``house parents'' like Marker and his wife, Becky, provide structure and encouragement.

The statewide group has been caring for neglected and abused children since 1904, relying mostly on private donations. Now, in the recession's wake, nearly a third of its income has evaporated.

``We've had to trim some things, have fewer activities, and unfortunately we've had to lay off some people,'' said Willie Garcia, director of development at the charity's five-acre local campus, 7748 SW 95th Ter., which celebrated its 50th birthday last year.

``We need all the help we can get,'' he added.

People like Susan Isenberg, a regular contributor to the home, play a big role in ``helping them with their Christmas wish lists and with activities.''

Last week, with Isenberg's help, Sara George, co-owner of South Miami stationery store The Paper Boutique, brought students from Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart to stuff donated backpacks with school supplies.

The packs will be distributed to residents of Florida Baptist's homes as well as needy children in Latin America. ``We are grateful to have been given the chance to contribute our time and products to these wonderful children,'' George said in an e-mail Monday.

Grants and some state funding round out the group's income, which finances six sites in Florida.

The Kendall compound houses up to 20 boys and girls, many of whom suffered neglect and abuse by parents and guardians.

Patty Gyatt, a social worker onsite for eight years, spoke of an 18-year-old woman who spent years bouncing between a disturbed, abusive mother and a caring but overwhelmed godmother.

After entering ``the system'' at 13, she began to buck the rules. She drifted from group homes to foster homes, returning to Florida Baptist for good when one of her mother's beatings put her in the hospital.

The young woman, whom Gyatt could not name, has moved to a semi-independent living program on campus, where she gets a stipend of about $1,130, called a Road to Independence Scholarship.

She has a year of high school left and wants to study criminal justice in college.

``In the program, they have to pay rent and buy groceries, get themselves up every morning, and take responsibility for themselves,'' Gyatt said.

Garcia said the group is hoping to build a new structure to house administrative offices and a library, computer room and gym.

The current office center would be turned into another dorm, he added.

For that, they need money. ``We're planning to start a capital campaign near the end of the year to raise those funds,'' Garcia said.

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