Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-06-21
Welfare Teamwork

Oh LIE value 10 local TAX"
payers of the District govern
ment's youngest service agency
working in liaison with older
welfare agencies appeared in
The Star on June II. It
described the Transforming of
Ollie jackson, polio victim,
from helpless, illiterate de-
tendency on family and public
assistance to self-supporting
business enterprise-all in the
short span of five years.
1t was a story of a syn
chronized service by some Of
the city's medical. educational
counseling and vocational
training agencies, which should
bring new heart to people
crippled by injury, illness or
congenital malformationS as
well as to taxpayers stagger-
ing under the cost of provid-
ing food, shelter and other
services for the support of
handicapped persons who have
no way of earning income, or
who are turned away by en-
ployerS who yet do not know
the value of a properly placed
handicapped worker. With
some professional aid in dis
covering and channeling the
remaining abilities of the
handicapped there are few of
these who would require, or
willingly remain helplessly de-
pendent upon, family or public
charity. Even the homebound
and bedbound can be helped
to establish income earning
enterprises. No minor and few
major physical disabilities can
displace the innate human
desire to obtain by self-effort
the three basic necessities,
food. shelter and clothing
to be a self-sustained member
of society and a contributor to
the community, a taxpayer
rather than a tax-consumer.
To find them nobody knows
how many thousands WASH
ington has), to bring them
out of the city's back bed
rooms, define or discover their
disable abilities. provide job
training for those who never
had any, or retraining for
those who must learn new
skills, the District government
in late 1854 took over from the
Federal Government the local
vocational rehabilitation serv-
ice then operating within the
National Health, Education
and Welfare Department. and
made it a separate and indie
pendent agency under the
District government. Because
this came abruptly, something
like a baby left on the doorstep
with a few garments, the
necessary adjustments and
provisions have taken time to
obtain. But it is a healthy
youngster at Ia, full of
promise. and if nourished by
public interest, who can pre-
dict how far it can go in
bringing back to productive
living Washington's unknown
citizens now living lives almost
as limited as was that of Ollie
Jackson before the several
welfare agencies named in The
Stars excellent story began
their work with him and
achieved happiness for him
and active public appreciation
of them? Public interest can
be whetted by the publication
OF more such success stories.
Employers from both private
and government organizations,
community leaders and busi-
ness executives, Of their own
accord. by invitation, alone or
In groups, drop in at the re-
Mobilization agency, 819 Ninth
street NV, every Wednesday
at ! pm, for an hours forum
on this subject, and the results
Of their ideas, suggestions and
helpful efforts often open new
avenues both in agency policies
and displacement oppor-
tunities. ,
At all hours of the work
week, clients and prospective
clients come in, some with
disabilities that do not show,
some partially manned or
famed, and a few in wheel
chairs. Those accepted receive
medical evaluation, aptitude
tests. schooling academic OF
vocationaD If needed, job
training or retraining, and job
counseling eliminating in ef-
fective job placement.
Who is eligible? Well--whc
or what is a handicapped
person? An interesting ques-
ton with many possible an
swers. OF the many nation;
now attacking this Worldwide