Serving Seniors

Dates: Tuesday, September 24th OR Thursday, September 26th

Location: See your e-mail for the Zoom link!

Community

There are often many organizations in communities designed to help others. Some organizations work to address homelessness, others to provide medical care, others books, and still others food. There are countless ways for people to help their neighbors and to come together to form community. In our reading this week, we’ll be looking at the development of volunteer and service organizations over time.

Organizations like Serving Seniors actually stem from a long movement of people working to establish places of help, especially for incoming immigrants to America. As people moved away from rural villages and concentrated in larger cities, it became harder for immigrants to become integrated into the communities around them. Many Americans, especially those in the middle class, began looking for a way to help their fellow city dwellers to put down roots in their new country. Here is a brief timeline of the development of these organizations and centers designed to help others:

1820s - Second Great Awakening

This large religious movement resulted in many Americans converting to evangelical religions. The movement emphasized striving for the eradication of sin in the name of perfectionism. This, in turn, drove a number of social reform movements, including temperance, abolition, and a push for women’s rights. All these movements required volunteers to raise awareness, campaign, and raise money for their efforts.

This is really a major shift in American attitudes towards helping others as a collective/community effort. Though the religious fervor eventually ebbed, the drive to work to reform the ‘ills’ of society and help others find more equal footing did not.

1851 - YMCA begins

The Y had gotten its start in London in 1844, when a man named George Williams noticed that young men who came to London in search of work were often faced with bleak living conditions and a rough life on the streets. He organized the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) as a bible study for young men. In 1851, a retired Boston sea captain named Thomas Valentine Sullivan noticed similar issues in Boston, leading him to form the first American YMCA in the Old South Church in Boston.

1865 - The Salvation Army is founded

Like George Williams, William and Catherine Booth were worried about the poverty and morality of London’s poor. A preacher by trade, William was determined to battle these societal ills with military precision.

He modeled his Methodist sect after the British army, even naming ministers as ‘officers’ and new members as ‘recruits’. Women were given equal ranks in the organization and launched ‘campaigns’ with soup kitchens in some of London’s poorest neighborhoods. The Christian Mission was renamed the Salvation Army in 1878 and it remains one of the largest volunteer organizations around the world.

In 1880 Salvation Army expanded to Australia, Ireland, and the United States. In the United States, salvationists found ready work in dealing with alcoholic rehabilitation, first in New York, before establishing branches in other cities. They also responded to natural disasters, like the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

The Salvation Army currently has a presence in 133 countries, running charity shops, shelters for those experiencing homelessness, and humanitarian aid. As of 2004, the Salvation Army was helping more than 32 million people in the United States.

1881 - The American Red Cross is formed

Clara Barton had supported troops during the Civil War by going directly to the battlefield to provide comfort. She was known as the “Angel of the Battlefield”.

After the war, she encountered the Switzerland-based Red Cross, which campaigned for international agreements to protect the sick and wounded during wartime. Once home again, Clara founded the American Red Cross to provide humanitarian aid to those in need. Today, the American red cross provides approximately 45% of the nation’s blood supply and supports more than 1,000 organizations across the country.

1889 - Hull House opens in Chicago

Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr opened a settlement house to provide social services to poor immigrants. The Hull House originally opened as a kindergarten, but soon included a daycare nursery and infant care center. Eventually, the House provided educational facilities for secondary and college-level classes, as well as evening classes on civil rights and civic duties.

Hull House pioneered a range of services to immigrants and working populations of West Side Chicago. Aside from kindergarten and day care facilities, they operated an employment b bureau, art gallery, English and citizenship classes, theater, music, and art classes. They also supported club meetings, including working girl clubs and union groups.

By 1900, the U.S. had more than 100 settlement houses across the country, providing similar services. By 1911, Chicago alone had 35 settlement houses in operation to serve their local communities! To read more about the impressive impact of Hull House, click here: https://www.hullhousemuseum.org/about-jane-addams

1905 - The Rotary Club is founded

A Chicago lawyer named Paul Harris founded the Rotary club to bring together business professionals of diverse backgrounds to exchange ideas and for meaningful friendships. Over time, the club has turned its focus to humanitarian services.

1915 - Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order of Brothers is founded

A year later, the group changed its name to Kiwanis, which originates from a Native American expression “Nunc Kee-wanis” meaning “we trade”. In 1920, Kiwanis adopted the motto “we build”. In the first years, the club focused on business networking but in 1919 changed its focus to service, specifically focusing on helping children.

1917 - Lions Club International is founded

Melvin Jones, a Chicago business leader, told his local business club that they should turn their focus to helping their communities and the world. After contacting similar groups around the U.S., an organizational meeting was held in Chicago to draft a constitution, by-laws, objectives, and code of ethics. They adopted the name of one of the groups invited to the meeting, “Association of Lions Clubs”.

1930s - Soup Kitchens

During the Great Depression, many simply needed food and shelter and the modern soup kitchen was born in response. Many soup kitchens later evolved into food pantries, many of which have been a lifeline during uncertain times, like our current pandemic. To see a photo of the soup kitchen established by famed gangster, Al Capone, and to read a little bit more, click here: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/al-capones-soup-kitchen-great-depression-chicago-1931/