The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., December 01, 1922, Page 13, Image 13

Secember, 1922
13
THE WESTERN AMERICAN
1
The Public Welfare Bureau and Its Service to
the Community
4n Institution Concerning itself with the Conservation of Family and
Home Ties and the Rehabilitation of the Homes Where
Misfortune Has Entered In.
By A. R. Gephart, General Secretary Public Welfare Bureau
fl When a poor man
a Lives in Portland
■ And becomes an invalid
■ Or dies
I And leaves no insurance
■ Or gets old
I And has no savings
I Or deserts wife and children
I Who keeps his family together ?
suffering from handicaps of mind
or body which makes it impossible
for them to “keep the pace” in the
competitive struggle for the neces­
sities of life.
The first work of the Bureau, in
the order of procedure, is to pro­
vide those physical necessities
which unfortunate families need in
order to live. The most important
work of the Bureau, however,
whether judged from the view­
point of the families needing help
or the interests of the community
as a whole, is the effort on the
part of the Bureau’s staff to help
folks to help themselves. This
service involves a multitude of pos­
sible aids, such as directing the
family to medical service that will
make the bread-winner able to
work or relieve the family of some
other burden of ill health; the find­
ing of employment; enlisting the
interest of relatives, churches,
lodges, unions, benefit societies,
and any others who should have a
prior interest or who can render
special service; the improving of
housing conditions, etc.
If the family presents a problem
of juvenile delinquency, desertion
from their work to double-deck
beds, though many of them do live
in crowded rooming-houses and
miserable homes. They are not
the members of the community
who have committed crimes for
which they are being punished, nor
those who are so feeble of mind
and body as to require care in an
■ For thirty-four years
1 Winter and Summer the
institution. Those charges of the
I Public Welfare Bureau, has been
Bureau for whom most can be done
■ Husband and Father to such
are
the families who are perfectly
■ Helpless families,
normal in their physical and men­
Q INCE the Public Welfare Bureau tal endowments, but who have suf­
H was first organized in Portland, fered the misfortune of unfavor­
Oregon, in 1888, when it was known able circumstances or an unfriend­
Mthe City Board of Charities, aid ly environment.
hs been given in 46,559 cases.
In normal times, this group is
Although the bureau’s primary small. During periods of unem­
cohcern during its entire life of ployment or other emergency, the
tHrty-four eventful years, has percentage, of course, is much
In families in distress, it has larger. By far the larger part of
from time to time given consider­ the Bureau’s charges are families
able aid to homeless men. At the
present time, the Bureau is ex­
clusively a family agency, which
distinguishes it from most other
charitable and correctional insti­
tutions, who are dealing with the
individual fragments of broken
TO
families.
The Public Welfare Bureau con-
cerns itself with families that are
inldistress and whose misfortune
VIA
of some kind is threatening to
break up the home. Its primary
object is to conserve family life.
It is rendering such aid and ser­
vie^ to families that are breaking
The “North Coast Limited” leaves Portland in the morn­
up on the rocks of poverty, ill
ing and the “Oriental Limited” leaves Portland in the
health, bad housing, etc., that pre­
evening for Spokane, Montana Points, St. Paul, Chicago
vents the disaster, helping as
and The East.
many as possible to rehabilitation.
Most other charitable and cor­
The former east of Spokane moves via the Northern
rectional agencies conduct their
Pacific Ry., and the latter via the Great Northern Ry. to
work between four walls with a
St. Paul, thence the Burlington Route.
roof over them. The walls of the
Both are all steel trains, giving every inducement for
Public Welfare Bureau’s building
are the boundary lines of Multno­
comfort and pleasure.
mah county and the sky is the
CONSOLIDATED TICKET OFFICE
roof.
Third and Washington Streets
The Bureau’s charges are not
UNION PASSENGER STATION
confined in crowded dormitories
and do not march in lock-step from
the dining room to their work and
Choice of Limited Trains
Spokane and the East
Spokane, Portland & Seattle Ry.
Place Your Orders With The Western American Adi irtisers—and Tell Them Why