CHARITY 



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CHARITY 



still active agents in the field of charity. To 

 leave this field entirely to religious bodies, 

 however, would be a serious mistake; for the 

 churches are under the control of many de- 

 nominations, and hence cannot bring about 

 universal cooperation of effort. Organized 

 charity has grown out of the feeling that gen- 

 eral cooperation in charity work is a necessity. 



As the first step in this direction came the 

 formation of relief societies whose purpose 

 was to do away with haphazard methods of 

 giving and to place the work on a systematic 

 basis. Then came associations for improving 

 the condition of the poor, whose aim was to 

 make the aid rendered of permanent value. 

 Relief societies now are maintained in almost 

 countless numbers in various parts of the world, 

 including in their work the care of destitute, 

 neglected and delinquent children, friendless 

 boys and girls, impoverished families in fact, 

 people of every description who are in need 

 of a helping hand. 



Bureaus of Charities. The final step in 

 systematized charity was the formation of the 

 Charity Organization Society, which exists 

 under various names in different cities, such as 

 Associated Charities, United Charities, Boards 

 and Bureaus of Charities. The first of these 

 societies, and the one on which the others have 

 been modeled, was started in London in 1869, 

 receiving the support of such eminent men as 

 Gladstone and Ruskin. Its founders stated 

 that its main object was "cure, as distinguished 

 from the mere alleviation of distress." Hardly 

 less important was the aim to bring about 

 such cooperation between existing relief so- 

 cieties as would do away with any overlapping 

 of their fields of effort. 



Societies of this character are now main- 

 tained in about 150 cities of the United States, 

 in nearly 100 cities of Great Britain and in all 

 the larger Canadian and Australian cities. 

 Various charitable organizations similar to 

 these are also found on the continent of Europe. 

 The first American Charity Organization So- 

 ciety was founded in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1877. 



All of these societies work on certain funda- 

 mental principles. First of all, they investigate 

 all cases that come to their attention. A rec- 

 ord is made for each family and placed on file 

 for reference. All possible information is ob- 

 tained, and this is placed at the disposal of 

 individuals or relief societies that are inter- 

 ested. In this way the charity organization 

 society makes possible cooperation among all 

 the philanthropic agencies of the city. 



Personal service is another important feature 

 of the work of these bureaus. Not only do 

 they see that help is given a needy family, but 

 a friendly interest is kept up by means of a 

 band of voluntary workers called friendly vis- 

 itors. These organizations also seek to bring 

 about social reforms, and to interest the com- 

 munity in establishing playgrounds, public 

 baths, swimming-pools, comfort stations and 

 better sanitary conditions in general. The 

 recent movement in great cities for better 

 housing conditions in the poorer districts is 

 largely due to the broad work of the Charity 

 Organization Society and interested individ- 

 uals. 



While the charity bureaus often must give 

 help outright, especially when times are hard 

 and winters are severe, as far as possible they 

 encourage self-help. Therefore, laundries, sew- 

 ing rooms and employment bureaus are estab- 

 lished according to local conditions. The car- 

 rying on of the many activities of these bu- 

 reaus calls for men and women of education 

 and high ability, and some societies have train- 

 ing schools where their workers are especially 

 prepared for social service. 



The charity bureaus are supported by volun- 

 tary contributions, and are administered by 

 boards of directors chosen from among the 

 contributors. Actively at the head of the work 

 is the superintendent, who has a corps of 

 assistants. The larger cities are divided into 

 districts, each of which is managed by a dis- 

 trict superintendent. W.B.G. 



Authoritative information concerning the work 

 of the charity bureaus of America may be ob- 

 tained from the periodical Charities, published 

 by the Charity Organization Society of New 

 York City. On the general subject of charity, 

 consult Warner's American Charities; Hender- 

 son's Dependent, Defective and Delinquent 

 Classes; Devine's The Practice of Charity. 



CHARITY, SISTERS OF, also written SISTERS 

 OF MERCY, is the name given to a number of 

 Orders of women in the Roman Catholic 

 Church which are devoted to the care and edu- 

 cation of the sick, the poor, the aged or the 

 orphaned. Each Order is known by its special 

 gown or habit, usually loose robes of black, 

 relieved at the throat and about the face by 

 a touch of white. The members of all the 

 Orders are forbidden to marry. The first or- 

 ganization was established in France by Saint 

 Vincent de Paul in 1629. The Order was ap- 

 proved by the Pope, and it spread rapidly 

 wherever the Roman Catholic Church was 

 found. It is one of the strongest, best-known 



