The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-26
WHAT BECOMES
 OF THE WIDOWS?
Now a National Association Is Seeking the Answer Modernized Charity Aims to Spread It's Methods Work of a New National Philanthropic Body.

Francis H. Mclean, General Secre-
 tary National Association of Socie-
 ties for Organizing Charity.
 (Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau9
 (Although the Russell Sage Founda. ton. through a special department. years in proselytizing in order to create organized charity societies throug ghout the country, a new asso- citation has recently been formed for this purpose. The existing charity or zanization societies felt that the work they were performing was so neces- sary for any community that num- Der of them banded together to 1n- duce all cities and towns to follow their lead and secure the same bene- fits their own cities have enjoyed. This leaves the Russell Sage Pounds ton to do the intensive work Of edu- cation, while the new society does the extensive work of forming new societies.)
 What becomes of the Widows? is d question asked in a little circular recently issued by the National as- aociation of Societies for Organizing Charity. It is amazing to see in city after city, town after town. where there Is unorganized charity and where no one feels the responsibility, how little it actually knows about what is happening in families of widows. This ignorance plainly 1n- dicates the underlying neglect wher- ever there is no systematic means of looking after the welfare of this class of families. Everyone will agree that these cases require attention, that the widow may break down and the chil- dren may be scattered for lack of constant wise advice and planned re- lief. the widow typifies the neglect of prac- tically -eyery other kind of neglected families ,fn cities where there is no organized effort towards helping them to help themselves through an Asso- ciated Charities or Society for Or gantzing Charity
 orSanfzed have joined together in a National organization. These socle- ties are in cities ranging in population from, $, 900 to 4.000, 900. They all know that this type of organization is re- Quired in every city. town and hamlet in the country, if we are not going to develop in our smaller communities particularly, the genuine pauper class of Predetermined sickly and delin- 0uent children. You may be disinclin- ed to believe this but as matter of fact the worst family problems that ' deld work. have been run down Ameri- can, families in our small cities and towns who have been the victim of unintelligent, sporadic attention on the part of kind-hearted people, bu, with no one to develop plans for
 Fhe absence of an Associated Char ities 31 any town will soon come tc be recognized as a sign of backward ness. as sign that 1t cared little for civic advance. For it must be understood that in the. small cities the Associated Charities. in most cases. is apt to be "the whole show, : 70 far as so-called preventive charity IS concerned It is often times the one to arouse the community in need Of education and prevention of. tuber- culosis the value of medical inspec. tion and the juvenile court to the i'm. portance of having ordinary sanitary regulations and to the need of recrea- tion opportunities for children. IT other words it must outline and car " out a whole social program with the cooperation of all the organiza' tions and persons who are really in,