P. B. H. SOCIAL SERVICE WORK IS DESCRIBED

The following article on the Social Service activities of Phillips Brooks House was written for the Crimson by E. S. Amazeen '31, Chairman of the Social Service Committee.

Phillips Brooks House is able to use almost any person in Harvard College to help carry out its numerous duties. The committee sends members to social centers in the poorer sections of Boston and Cambridge, where these men do both paid and volunteer work in the homes in which the boys congregate. These youngsters are interested in forming clubs, getting organized, or, so it seems, doing anything at all; and if they are not kept busy, they are very liable to get into trouble on the streets. In social service homes, they can compete in games such as basketball and baseball, under the supervision of the workers. The homes especially desire men who are proficient in some special line, such as handicraft, dramatics, fencing, soccer, scouting, running, or dancing.

There is some sort of work in almost every field: The Cambridge Y. M. C. A. frequently uses men to prepare foreigners for their naturalization tests; men are sometimes sent to the Cambridge Jail to teach those who plan on leading a straight life after they are released. There are many clubs that can use a man occasionally: for example, a stamp club has wanted an experienced philatelist to speak to a group of young collectors; and a club frequently desires the services of someone who has done a lot of traveling, to tell of his adventures, and the sights he has seen. Sunday School teaching is another occupation that calls for many students, and in this as in the other vocations, there is often pay for experienced or otherwise qualified men. Volunteer work is greatly appreciated in every line, but for practiced men who need the money, compensation is given.