Evening star., 1937-03-30
CITIZENS MEETING
CALLED To SOLVE
EMPLOYAbLE AID
Plight of Those Out of Job
and Denied Relief to Be
Presented.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULED
SUNDAY AT 4:3O Pm.
10000 Persons in D. C. Familie5
Caught Between Joblessness
and Reduction of Rolls.

Aroused by the desperate conditicr
confronting "employable" people with
out jobs in this city, group of Wash
ingtonians, headed by Coleman
Jennings, is arranging a Citizens
mass meeting on behalf of the un-
employed" to be held at 430 pm.
next Sunday at the First Congrega-
tional Church, Tenth and G streets.
At this meeting, according to mem
bers Of the committee, a realistic
picture Of this situation will be pre-
sented in the hope of working out
some plan to alleviate the suffering
OF these citizens.
At the present time there are ap-
proximately 5000 men and women.
heads of families representing ab2ut
10000 people, who are without Jobs
and who, because they ere employable.
cannot obtain direct relief from the
Public Assistance Division of the
Board of Public Welfare Their need
is recognized and admitted by the
public agency, but curtailment of
funds has made it impossible to help
any but the nemployables
Hundreds have applied to the private
family agencies for aid, only to be
told that these agencies are already
caring for the utmost possible number
their limited appropriations will per-
nit Each of the Chest a ,encies has
reached point where, to take on
just one more family, would mean
putting another equally worthy and
equally in need off the rolls.
Headquarters Set Up.
Several weeks ago officials OF the
Family Service Association and off,
Gals of the Washington Federation
OF Churches met to devise somp
method Of helping these people. The
result was the setting up of head
quarters at 1900 Sixteenth street. with
staff representatives of the Family
Service Association in cha gt and a
group of volunteers from the various
churches who will make a study of
the entire situation. That study is
obtaining the necessary information
which the trained social workers of
the Family Service Association are
preparing for analysis.
But this survey will not be completed
for mother month. In the meantime
hundreds OF these men are walking
the street, They and .neir families
are being evicted from the saualid
quarters that they are forced to call
home" Their children are suffering
from malnutrition from lack of milk.
which the head of the house is unable
to purchase. They are subsisting on
neager orders for surplus foods and
from help which they , e able tc get
from neighbors. in many instances in
little better circumstances than them
selves.
Authentic Stories Told.
In recent series of broadcasts over
Station WJSV a group of these people
told their stories. There was no
doubling their authenticity. The men
came to the meeting and exhibited
their shoes, worn through in their
,easeless tramp hunting work. They
told OF threatened eviction from their
homes. One man told of his little
girl, taken to a convalescent home
because of "malnutrition And all
the time l knew that it was not NAL.
nutrition, but plain starvation, because
We had not had enough food and no
milk for that baby" he said.
Committees have gone before the
District of Columbia Commissioners
asking them to seek a deficiency ap-
preparation of District of Columbia tax
money to help these people. 1t could
not be obtained. There is now a
| movement to ask Congress to in
crease the relief budget of the District
by sl,000,000 for the next fiscal year
in order that some relief can be grant,
ed people similarly situated There
has been no success in that direction
to date
Community Chest officials, asked
why Chest money is not appropri-
ated, point out that the Chest is
federation of IS agencies, banded to-
gether to raise money in one campaign
instead of single campaigns. The
family agencies, they point out, re-
ceived their proportionate share of
the money subscribed in the last cam
paign. They admit that it is not
enough, but the Budget Committee, a
group of volunteer citizens, has allo-
Gated all that was obtained
Mass Meeting Arranged.
With this picture before them. the
group OF citizens comprising the Com
mittee on Citizens Mass Meeting on
Behalf of the Unemployed" decided
that the only method of bringing this
question squarely before the public
would be by means of mass meeting.
All the service clubs in the city will
be invited to attend. Steps are being
taken to bring out people of all ranks.
1t is hoped to paint the picture so
clearly that an aroused citizenry will
take some action.
Newbold Noyes, associate editor of
The Star, tonight at 7:30 o'clock will
appear as guest speaker on the pro-
gram of Radio joe Kaufman over
WMAL to point out the need for
action. Mr.. Noyes has made extensive
studies of conditions among the UNDER
privileged in Washington as an officer
of the Community Chest.
The committee, in addition to
Chairman Jennings is composed Of
Canon Anson Phelps Stokes, LIE Roy
Halbert, DR.. Worth M. Tippy, Miss
Margaret Scattergood Mrs Morris
C. Belts, Rev. A. F. Elmes, Walter
S. Ufford, Adjt. Gilbert S. Decker,
Mrs. w. A. Roberts, Milton Porgo-
relskin, David Dixon, Miss Dorothy
Bailey, Joseph D. kaufman, Miss
Helen A. Shuford, Rev. Laurence j.
Shehan, William H. Savin, Mai,