The government welfare system has built up such a machinery of laws over the years that often the poor fall through the cracks, said Sister Mary Anthony, O.L.M., of the Eastside Neighborhood Center, Charleston, S.C.

Sister Mary Anthony and four Franciscan nuns from Charleston were among the 225 delegates attending the six-state Southeastern regional meeting of the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers which met last week in Atlanta.

The federation was established in 1915 to assist immigrants. The purpose of the center has not changed with times. Now the assistance programs are aimed toward the integration of any minority group. “Not integration in the Negro-white sense of the word,” Sister Mary Anthony said, “but in the sense that neighborhood centers provide the transition for minority groups, those alienated, outcast people in our society—to the stage where they become achieving citizens.”

The purpose of the settlement house is to strengthen family life in poverty areas, to develop personal self-esteem through training programs in education, health, manual skills.

The Eastside Neighborhood Center is located in the heart of the most densely-populated and deprived area of the state, Sister Mary Anthony said. Staff members include priests, nuns, volunteers and youth corps workers who serve 3,000-4,000 people through programs geared to meet the needs of the residents.

Government and private grants provide funds, but in order to get welfare money, the nun said, many of the people cannot go to work and still remain on welfare. The allotments are low and the families are unable to live on the monthly paychecks.

Sister Mary Anthony cited one example: “A 17-year-old girl from a family of eight, went to work. Her father is blind, and her mother must stay at home to care for the younger children. When the girl brought home her first paycheck—five dollars—the family’s welfare funds were cut off.”

Neighborhood block leaders attended training programs at the center and a program at Emory University in Atlanta. One leader described as “terrific” by Sister Mary Anthony is a grandfather who has returned to night school and is completing the eighth grade this year.

The center has established a baby clinic staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses. A recently organized council of Catholic nurses assorts and bottles the free medicines distributed through the clinic and the nurses volunteer a day of their time each week to assist in the program.

With a $1,000 grant and the aid of 15 Negro men in the area, the center planned a program to combat juvenile delinquency. The men teach the young boys manual skills, take them on trips, to sports event, and go fishing with them.

“The men are like fathers to the boys,” the nun said, “but a neighborhood gang, the ‘Panthers’, a group of older boys were jealous. They would sneak into the center where the younger boys were eating a hot lunch. The ‘Panthers’ would stand around and watch-now they are part of the group, even joining in the songfests—‘Here we are, all together as we sing, as we sing joyfully.’”

Since the arrival of the ‘Panthers’ and their participation in the program, it was necessary to organize a group called the ‘Junior Panthers,’” Sister Mary Anthony said. “The younger boys had so much respect for the ‘Panthers,’” she explained.

“Not long ago, the gangs would greet older sailors arriving in port by grabbing them around the neck—the wrong way—and removing their wallets. Now, there’s been a lull in the muggings, and we hope it won’t blow up in our faces,” the nun said.

Sewing classes for adults and children round out the program and there are plans for tutorial classes. The center is negotiating for Vista workers to do some of the footwork in the neighborhood, Sister Mary Anthony said.

The Franciscan nuns work in the Union Heights neighborhood of the city. “We don’t see poverty—we see people,” Sister Maigread said. “People have got to come to grips with their prejudice. When they hear we are working in Union Heights, they turn us off.”

In the neighborhood areas, the poor can’t believe the nuns are working for nothing, Sister Maigread said. “There is something so strong, a power to endurance the poor possess that puts us to shame. Their reverence for God and their respect for the individual is obvious—they have a spirit that is not bogged down by middle class values.”