Evening star., 1940-11-20
mo. 2 OF a SerieS.)

Hedl peOpIe uOll IldVc llldG HULL
trouble; it's Just sob story"
The wish of Washington's social
workers is that they could take
every person holding this view into
the homes of fellow citizens who
have been confronted with not one
problem but a long disheartening
series of them-people who have
had occasion frequently to call on
the community's agencies of help
fulness.
If this were practicable, the well
fare laborers are certain, the Com
munity Chests s2,0O0,000 goal would
be oversubscribed by generous
margin, and they would be able
to extend much more than the
present minimum of friendly aid.
They have first-hand knowledge of
the manner in which items of physi-
cal and mental suffering pile up in
the lives of families in the Nations
Capital which are composed of real
people. not unhappy hypothetical
creatures conjured up to serve as
appealing personalities in pathetic
picture.
Were the opportunity presented,
doubters wouiG be shown the So
cial Service Exchange, a Community
/ Chest member which consists prin-
cipally OF an index system. There
could be seen evidence of cases in
which unfortunate combinations of
cirptiy,o ct a 6ann bart citi
zens within the ken of case workers
over periods of years, despite the
will Of clients to make theirs self
contained family units operating in.
dependently of charitable services.
Family in Desperate Straits.
Picking a card at random from
the files, which 60 back to 1882.
the visitor might find the case of the
j family.
The mother appeared al Chest
headquarters and when referred to
an intake secretary, related she
had became -panicky because
OF the desperate straits into which
her family had been plunged. She
said her husband, a truck driver
for large delivery organization,
had been injured in a traffic acci-
| dent and would be unable TO work
for many weeks. Workmens COM
penSatlon payments were in pros
| pect. but formalities made it I'M
probable they would begin promptly
In the meantime. the worried
mother was wondering what would
happen when the last remaining IS
bill OF fathers final pay envelope
prior TO the mishap was spent for
food The landlord was demanding
overdue rent money; discarded boxes
and crates were proving poor sub
stitute for coal
To climax her story of trlbula-
tlons the applicant said three Of
her four children had severe head
colds. and the fourth and youngest
was in need Of immediate hospitali-
zat1on for pneumonia.
Six Years of Trouble.
It was decided the Family Service
Association would be the logical
agency to help this mother. A case
" Va MI N4itNhtb kAlt LldIAlb Will llIt
Social Service Exchange and found
these agencies listed on the card:
Public Assistance Division Cath
olic Charities. Child Guidance Clinic
Of the Washington Institute of
Mental Hygiene. tuberculosis Clinic,
Health Security Administration, In
structive Visiting Nurse Society.
Family Service Association and
Legal All Bureau Dates of the
entries covered a span of more than
years.
Since the exchange does not file
complete histories but only records
of the agencies serving individuals
or families together with the dates
on which service was extended the
case worker filled out her back
ground by calling the various or
CARNATIONS mentioned on the j
card. Here is what she learned:
The father had been registered
with the Public Assistance Division
for aid from the District in 1884 and
1885 This contact ended when he
obtained employment, but he was
obliged TO call on the Catholic
Charities within a year and half
because of losing his job. The po-
sition with the delivery firm OBJ
tanned later proved secure, but the
income was small. and the family
was plagued with sickness. The
Health Security Administration, not
itself Chest agency, although in
strumentality for expenditure of the
Chest disqualification fund made up
the difference when the father found
himself unable to pay the full cost
Of any of five separate hospitallza-
ton periods for his children.
Other Help Provided.
One child required tuberculosis
treatment at the clinic, another,
presenting a behavior problem, was
adjusted with help of the Child
Guidance Clinic and, when the
mother had her last baby, the hos
pitalization fund was called on
again. The Instructive Visiting
Nurse Society proved a valuable
friend in helping care for the baby
in its first months.
The case worker found her own
agency had been instrumental in
giving one of the children stay in
summer camp, and she discovered
the Legal Aid Bureau had helped
when the mother confessed bewil-
derment at being told she had been
named administrative of her sisters
very small estate.
But these were old problems; of
what Importance was their recapitu-
lation?
Of great importance, the case
worker would insist, because it gave !
her an insight into the makeup