The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-12-20
WHAT NEW CHARITY
 SOCIETY WILL pol
Plans to Help Worthy People In Way That Will Not Mean Loss of Self
 Respect.

SOCIeTY BT1QSEpOTL eds many people are asking Just why we need such an organization, when we have our churches and other char itable societies; what will be it's func- tions, and how will it be conducted? 1 Let us state first that Bridgeport IS the only city of over 10000 inhab1- tants in the United States that has not had for some time past such a 1 central organization. In our own 1 state they have been formed in Hart 1 ford. Waterbury, New Haven, Stan- l ford. New Britain, Greenwich and | New London. | It will not interfere in any way with
 other charitable organizations but
 rather will help them and work har-
 moniously with them
 | A confidential exchange will pc l maintained which will be at the ser 1 vice Of other charitable organizations land church societies who are in any way helping the poor Such an eA- change has long been needeo III l Bridgeport, for there are many ram l lilies who are helped py seVeial I.,'n-.-- ul-. ferent societies, while many others really needing help have not received l it from any one, through lack Of
 proper system.
 This exchange will not be at the dis posaI of curious persons, but will only ha for well authenticated members of charitable organizations and church es. Under no ordinary circumstan- ces will anyone receiving charity be exposed.
 The association will not only help to regulate the charitable work of the citv- but it will do more for the in
 dfyiduaI family than has been done heretofore, by finding employment for worthy people who are out or work, by helping them to help them selves and thus become more sef-re- specting.
 It has been asked by some, why such a work cannot be done in con- nection with the city's present De- partment of Charities. In the hrst place, such an urban organization Is always associated, in the minds or tne people, with politics and while there might not be the slightest element or that subject connected with the WorK' people would hesitate to. seek help where they considered opinions on certain things to be biased.
 Again, in appealing thus to the clty their names would be placed on the books as public charges and this, cer- tainly would be unfair in a case where a family is only temporarily oepen- dent, through sickness or some other cause, and so needs only to be helped once or twice at most.
 Some of this family relief work is. of course, done now by our Depart ment of Charities, but they have also the hospitals, the almshouse, the in sane people and the imbeciles to tend to and so can only give a fractional part of their time and efforts in this direction.
 The association will also accomplish another object. Many merchants, man ufacturers and other well meaning persons are often appealed to for help | for supposedly authentic charitable | projects but which are really frauds l The association will endorse all char | itable movements and protect the pub ] lie from being imposed upon by fake l orga anizations. a conference of charities of which | Mrs. John c. Curtis is chairman. This 1 has helped greatly to prevent dup1ica- 1 ton, but it has depended upon | what the ladies, who are representa- 1 lives of the different societies, could l do at monthly meetings, it's accom- l p1ishments and scope were naturally 1 more limited than will be those of the | new association.
 Of course the organization will | have an office but it's location has not l yet been decided upon.
 To the minds of those best acquafnt- 1 ed with the work, three paid helpers l are absolutely necessary, that is, a | general secretary who is we'll trained | in the work, an office assistant, and a l family visitor. It will make no differ | ence whether these are men wom- 1 en, their efficiency alone will be con | sidered
 It will be the duty of the visitor to go to the different families which | have been reported, either by 4other | organizations or to the office direct, find out. the conditions and verify l them from time to time.
 The results of such investigations | will be recorded in the office by a card | system similar to that now so widely employed in all business offices. Then it will be possible to turn at once to the family, find out how many com prise it, when it first sought help, how long it has been helped and who is helping it.
 Another duty of the visitor will be to ascertain the conditions of desti- tute dependent children. This is now done by committee appointed by the County Commissioners and the Board of Managers of the County Home. The ladies who do the visiting receive salary and are naturally rather limited in the extent of their good work by conditions in their own homes, so that a paid investigator would greatly facilitate the work and keep in touch with it much better than they are able to do.
 It is planned to raise the funds for carrying the work entirely by pop ular subscription.
 Some one has suggested that, since this well planned charitable work will naturally, III IlIIle' save the city con- siderable money, the Board of Appor- tionment ought to appropriate a cer- tain sum for it's use. It was said that | the taxpayers when they understood, the object of the association would certainly approve of such action by l the Board of Apportionment.
 While the board of directors of the l new society is made up of individuals rather than of representatives from other societies, nearly all of the mem- bers are officers of other charitable or ganizations, and thus represent the cooperation of these.
 The board of directors is composed of some of the forem ost Tnanufactur- CTS, business men, doctors and clergy men of the city who are well known