P.B.H. Volunteers Assist Children In 33 Boston Settlement Houses

There are 33 three-ring circuses going on in Greater Boston in the form of settlement houses, and 180 Phillips Brooks House volunteer social workers have a lot to do with keeping them going.

The P.B.H. social service committee keeps 33 houses supplied with College men who conduct handicraft classes, coach sports like swimming, boxing and basketball, and assist the professional social workers who run the houses.

Typical of the settlements is the Olivia James House, the majority of whose 1,160 members are youngsters from 3 to 17. It is run by a staff of 15: four College men, two paid, full-time workers, and nine other volunteers. The funds necessary to run the activities come from the Community Chest.

Other Participants

In addition to the kids, there are some 25 aged blind people who participate in house functions, and 35 mothers are enrolled in the nutrition class.

Fifty nursery school children start the day's program with kindergarten from 9 to 12. The blind come early in the afternoon, and neighborhood children turn up shortly after 3 p.m. to play under supervision, learn handicrafts, or attend cooking and sowing classes.

The evening schedule includes social dancing for teenagers, choral and dramatic groups, and musical festivities with instruments. The 15-member choral group serenades patients at nearby Carney Hospital every Christmas.

Fourth year men at the Medical School volunteer to give settlement boys complete physical check-ups periodically. The boys are now examined at the rate of 60 a week. Often diseases are caught in their early stages and quick cures can be effected. Recently it was found that 40 percent of the boys examined showed signs of tuberculosis.

In the settlement houses, small battles are in progress most of the time. Some of the youngsters the 10 to 14 group notably--get a kick out of fighting, but it's all in fun.

A visitor might wonder just what keeps the P.B.H. men this side of a nervous breakdown. Running a three-ring circus is a challenge, but they all seem to relish it.