Newspaper Page Text
DECEMEER 24, 1955.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THREE
WEiNSTOCK'S
FLORIST and DECORATIONS
| 8 PEACHTREE STREET • PHONE WALNUT 0908 %
| ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Every city has an outstanding shop,
in Atlanta it's . . .
-Jsm-frof\Sii\
" 225-27 PEACHTREE
dlri&lmaA Cjrecl in i
FROM
(Continued from Pagq One)
pervision of Sister Mary Blanche,
enjoy parochial schools and soci
al contacts at Augusta’s Saint
Benedict’s Home founded in 1903
and operated by the Missionary
Franciscan Sisters of the Im
maculate Conception.
Fulfilling the Great Com
mandment, the nuns, with their
zealous toil, remind the laity of
what is also their obligation:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with thy whole heart . . .
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself.”
Upon its origination in 1953
the Atlanta Social Service Office
began a comprehensive back
ground study of applicants to the
shelters as requested by His Ex
cellency, Bishop Francis Hyland.
Frequently previous placements
were made when the child could
not profit from institutional care.’
In all situations, the well-being
of the adolescent is considered
first.
Cases are discovered mainly
through schools, charitable or
ganizations, and the parish
priest. If the family does not
contact the Atlanta office within
two days, a worker visits them.
Interviews are concluded af
ter two weeks and complete in
formation on the applicant is
sent to the superior of the home
who makes the final decision.
These accumulative observations
are invaluable. In one emergen
cy it took workers two hundred
hours to find the essential ma
terial when it might have other
wise required but five minutes.
Given refuge, the child re
mains on the average of twelve
months; often he is reunited
with his family sooner; others
have been wards for almost eight
years.
Nearly two hundred services
for adolescents were rendered
in 1954 by the Social Service
program and One hundred eigh-
ty-two were attended in the
three homes.
Better than one hundred thou
sand dollars per year or approx
imately seventy dollars per child
are necessary to provide food,
shelter, education, and other ex
penses. Local doctors donate
their services. Clothing, if not
furnished by the parents, is sup
plied by the homes.
Diocesan funds, chiefly the
Christmas collection, contribu
tions from parents and relatives,
and donations support the shel
ters. Saint Benedict’s benefits
from the Sisters’ solicitation of
ft
LOEB-APTE CO.
5 Prod uce Row, S. W.
Atlanta, Ga.
tg
Blue Ribbon Wholesale Co. |
Wholesalers of
* 1
710 ASHBY ST., N. W.
ATLANTA, GA.
¥
Annual Christmas Collection
Atlanta benefactors. Since fami
lies make payment according to
their circumstances, a great
number contribute nothing. At
no time within the past five
years have all the homes had all
the funds required to operate
properly.
Designated primarily to ready
their young charges to meet the
world, the homes replenish, too,
an element of protection. The
idea that the institutions are ‘a
home away from home’ is con
stantly discouraged ... instead
they stress the fact that the -fam
ily can never be replaced.
Youngsters and their folks are
kept in close contact. Boarding
schools and the children’s shel
ters are not to be confused.
Since the reasons for admis
sion to the homes have changed,
the services they render are dif
fering also. Youths do not re
main in the homes as long as
they used to, thus an effort must
be made to know and assist them
more rapidly.
A 1952 study revealed that
disturbed minors profit best in
a setting where the staff en
courages individualism as well
as group work which is the basis
of family understanding.
Emotional therapy, further in
dividualization, a home for col
ored boys, and a method keeping
brothers and sisters together are
future goals.
Growing pains of Catholicism
in the expanding South neces
sitate promotion of the welfare
program. To enable a follow-up
on cases and closer work with
the family, more qualified labor
ers with warm personalities, un
derstanding the dynamics of
human behavior are being
sought. A well rounded youth
development project emphasizes
first the family, then the foster
home, and finally institutional
care.
In accordance with a new type
of therapy being tested during
the past several years, the doors
of the children’s own or foster
dwellings are thrown open for
the holidays welcoming the
youths into a festive spirit of
Yuletide cheers. All eleven girls
of Saint Benedict’s have been
placed this season; boys from
Saint Joseph’s without homes
will visit the KC’s of Augusta.
The Lady’s Sodality of Hunter
Air Force Base will foster the
remaining girls of Saint Mary’s.
Thanksgiving, Easter, and the
summer months ai'e usually
spent away from the institutions
also.
Benefactors entertain lively
youngsters, courteous and
friendly, adjusting well to the
community and each other . . .
loving those who watch over
them; in many cases the religi
ous are the finest parents they
have ever known.
Those who replenish their
youthful guests with the un
equalled love of a family at
Christmas are impelled by the
words of Our Lord: “Suffer the
little children to come unto Me
and forbid them not, for of such
is the kingdom of heaven.”
Too often we pass these youths
by, naming them ‘unfortunates’,
forgetting that they are flesh
and blood . . . that they are not
to blame, but rather the innocent
victims of the twentieth centu
ry’s intricate social and econom
ic pattern we, ourselves, help
create as we search for the very
security these youngsters are
deprived of. We owe these boys
and girls something ... a just
portion of the promising future
your own posterity will someday
share with these children.
Currency placed in the collec
tion is a sustaining gift . . . not
as perishable as a toy . . . but
providing throughout the year a
plate of food, a warm bad, a
book to read, and a chapel to
give thanks in . . . thanks for
your generosity!
Reflecting the significance of
Christmas correlated with the
appeal for the homes, Dr. H.
Kenneth Fitzgerald, D.S.W., Ex
ecutive Secretary of the Cath
olic Social Services stated: The
spirit of Christmas is in giving
rather than receivng. Our chil
dren’s homes are one manifesta
tion of this fine spirit of giving
by the Catholics in Georgia.
Now in the Christmas collection
our Catholic families again have
the opportunity to demonstrate
this charity and true Christmas
spirit by contributing generously
to the collection for the chil
dren’s homes thereby giving
children in these homes the op
portunities they give to their
own family members.”
In our Yuletide generosity,
honoring the Holy Infant by re
membering His rejected boys
and girls, Christmas will be a
more rewarding experience . . .
as in Dickens’ closing thoughts:
“ . . . and it was always said
of him that he knew how to
keep Christmas well, if any man
alive possessed the knowledge.
May that be truly said of us!
And so, as Tiny Tim observed,
God bless Us, Every One!”
MERRY CHRISTMAS
And
HAPPY, HEALTHY NEW YEAR
io Everybody
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD
210 Auburn Ave., N. E. WAlnut 1459 p
ATLANTA 3, GEORGIA
the GtfantanJ^ otel
LUCKIE & CONE STS.
y/tjf /f/. M//Y.U $1. '//f/w/tt.
Located in the heart of downtown Atlanta.
Convenient to business and entertainment.
Delicious meals in the beautiful Miami Buffet
HARRY DONOHUE, Mgr.