New Britain herald., 1921-06-09
MISS CORA BEALE
 DISCUSSES RELIEF
Welfare Association Agent Makes
 Monthly Report

: M. Beale. agent for the New Britain 1 Welfare association. calls attention. ! among other things, to the added need for old clothes: the benefits of increased preventive work among both the children and the adults Of the city: also, the labor situation is | discussed.
 | The report is follows:
 Charity begins at home and usually begins up attic. that being highest to Heaven" says an old Cape Cod character. There has been an emphasized need for our second | hand clothing room lateley and its | contents are always at the disposal of | other workers besides ourselves. ! Dozens of garments have been given | to us from day to day to pass on. A | small truck load resulting from special advertising soon melted away and the need still stands. We are 1 always glad to fill requests from the attendance department for necessary shoes and clothes to help overcome school absence. If extra garments mean added comfort at a sanatorium or in the home during illness, we pass on whatever suitable we have to the Visiting Nurse association or the Tu- berculosis Relief association.
 Since the industrial depression, when wages in many instances are wholly lacking. in others quite in adequate, to more than feed the ia mily. the need for aid in clothing and shoes has been greatly increased. Special funds obtained by their own efforts. have been donated by a group of young women, whereby to purchase new clothing in instances where no suitable second hand ma terial is forthcoming.
 This organization recognizes the need for the far sighted preventative work. Always will this city spend its thousands of dollars for the care of | advanced cases of tuberculosis, for 1 treatment of crippled and backward 1 children. Why not begin at the right | end and prevent iII-nourished phy- siques, diseased bodies and disOrdered | minds due to lack of nutrition. de- cayed teeth, diseased tonsils, and low l resistive power? Why not build anew | instead of eternally hammering and | patching. Why not always add to the | health standard of the children and l the opposite balance of battered and |
 
 grow less and less.
 Unemployment and it's accompany ing suffering has been brought forci- | bly, to our attention during the past | few months. The local fatorieS' en- deavor to retain the man with fami- | ly. has helped; the work offered by | the city departments was a welcome | boon to some; howevere, many have l been idle or months and the savings |
 
 rents continue and numerous children | are always hungry. Milk, a vital food | to growing children, is sadly lacking | in many homes. We have felt it ab- | soluely necessary to supply this arti- | cle, in addition to regular groceries. | J. F.. Seibert and son; thru out As l sociation. has given away daily many | hundreds of quarts of skim milk. Ill., | ness is always a great factor to com | bat, bring with its suffering, added ex- pense nd worry. Undernourished chil- | dren succomb quickly and rally slow ly. With their poor inheritance due to | wek parents. they are also adding to this downward trend by not being | properly fed during their growing | period of life.
 We cannot make over, to any eX- tent, the adult parent. We can start | with the child and in some cases with | the pregnant mother. These are sent | to the Infant Welfare clinic at the | Visiting Nurse AsSOcation. New Brit | ain needs a clinic for the child of pre- school age, placed at easy access to mothers in all parts of the city be- | cause mothers who most need such aid l and advice in caring for these little | children find it most difficult to leave | their homes. New Britain needs more | thorough mental and physical examin- ations in the public and parochial | schools in addition to the present in spections. Such examinations with | good fOllow-up work and instruction | to scholars and parents. where chill dren are subnormal in any way, would | wonderfully increase their chances to f have sound minds in sound bodies; | would give the teachers and trained | expert a chance to return to the city | full value for efforts and labor; would | in crease the members of better work Il ing citizens in tho future anI make l rugged and strong the boys and girls, l wards of the city and state. Tn addi tion to the work of the Tuberculosis Il Relief clinic under the board of health | in which effort is made to detect the ain needs well-chiIdren clinics or nutrition clinics. If these were es- tabIished and we'll looked after there | lief work and less expense to the city. l New Britain needs a dental clinic, | any an eye ear nose and throat clinic. | sands of school children, what can
 A9s.