In the midst of the Great Depression, George Eisenberg underscored the spirit of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Springfield.
It was 1935 when Eisenberg, en route home to Chicago, saw a line of men standing outside St. John’s Hospital from his train seat during a stop in Springfield. They were clearly destitute. And Eisenberg, as owner of the American Decal Co., which made registration stickers for license plates, was in a position to help.
Through the diocese, Eisenberg arranged to feed the needy on Christmas Day that year. He paid for Christmas dinner every year for years thereafter. In 1939, he helped pay for St. John’s Breadline to move away from the hospital that had become a namesake and into a building at the intersection of Sixth and Madison streets so that the hungry would have a place to sit, safe from the weather. And when he died in 1989, Eisenberg, who was Jewish, left $250,000 to Catholic Charities to help pay for a new building at 450 N. Fifth St., where St. John’s Breadline remains.
For Steven Roach, executive director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Springfield, the story of St. John’s Breadline and Eisenberg is one that crystallizes the mission and values of Catholic Charities as the agency celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. It’s not about proselytizing, it’s not about being Catholic or being Protestant or being Jewish. It’s about helping people, regardless of religious beliefs.
“St. John’s Breadline is pretty much an iconic institution in this community, as it should be,” Roach says. “Feeding the hungry is a fundamental thing in terms of what we do to help the poor. It really operates because of the volunteerism. It speaks to the spirit of the community – that’s something that we’re very, very proud of. Sometimes I say ‘St. John’s Breadline isn’t ours anymore, it belongs to Springfield.’”
Catholic Charities opened its doors in 1925. In the beginning, it was fairly small, moneywise, compared to today’s agency that has a budget of around $12 million. According to a Depression-era balance sheet, Catholic Charities spent $33,484 to help the poor in 1935, slightly more than $578,000 in today’s dollars. More than a third, $12,900, was spent on food, with an additional $7,695 recorded as expenditures for St. John’s Breadline.
But even then, Catholic Charities was about more than food. While the president was telling a struggling nation that it had nothing to fear but fear itself, the charity provided medicine and Christmas trees and rent and fuel and clothing and shoes and schoolbooks for children on relief. The charity remains diversified, providing more than a dozen services through 19 programs run from 13 offices and facilities throughout the 28-county diocese. Besides, food, Catholic Charities provides such essentials as medicine, housing for seniors, rental and utility assistance, clothing, vision and dental care, physicals for kids and counseling for individuals, families and couples. In recent years, Catholic Charities has started a legal clinic to help with such matters as foreclosures and evictions. The charity also helps immigrants by helping pay the cost of green-card and citizenship applications.
“The number one misconception is, it’s Catholics helping Catholics,” says Meredith Curtin, development coordinator for Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Springfield. “We have more non-Catholics working for us than Catholics. We don’t ask for your religious affiliation. As you need help, we’re there for you.”
Annetta Holloway of Grandview has needed help with utilities and rent since falling ill about five years ago. She is a Pentecostal and also receives food at Thanskgiving and Christmas. She says it’s difficult to receive help from anyone – she has always considered herself more a giver than a receiver. But the money and food that Catholic Charities provides, she says, aren’t as important as the prayers and encouragement she gets from employees and volunteers.
“They always had a word of encouragement for me,” Holloway says. “It’s not just material things, but words of wisdom.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at [email protected].
Bishop to observe anniversary
Bishop Thomas Paprocki will give a special mass this Saturday, June 13, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Springfield. The mass will be held at 4 p.m. in the Cathedral Atrium at
524 E. Lawrence, with a reception to follow. The public is welcome.
