The Birth of the Associated Charities
Seattle's civic leaders organize a modern 'clearing house' for relief to curb street beggary and provide professionalized aid.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The work of the Bureau of Associated Charities during the first year of its existence was fully set forth at the annual meeting held at the Chamber of Commerce. Its aims were to serve as a center of intercommunication between churches and charitable agencies; to investigate applications for relief without charge; and to provide visitors who would personally attend to cases. The motto was adopted: 'Not alms, but a friend.' Superintendent E. T. Dooley reported that 786 people were relieved, including children placed in homes and the suppression of chronic beggary, with a goal of raising $4,000 for the coming year.
“The motto was adopted, 'Not alms, but a friend.'”
The Bureau of Associated Charities was the precursor to modern social work in Seattle, shifting from indiscriminate alms-giving to an institutionalized model. The tension they navigated—between 'repressing beggary' and providing genuine aid—is a precursor to today's debates over public health and homelessness funding.
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