INFANT SHELTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23012, 13 April 1938, Page 6

INFANT SHELTER

MOTHERS ASSISTED * SAN FRANCISCO SCHEME VALUABLE VOLUNTARY WORK A visitor to Auckland who is keenly interested in charity work is Mrs. Charles C. Horton, of San Francisco, who is visiting the Dominion in the course of a world cruise by the Empress o):' Britain. Mrs. Horton is the wife of the prominent American civil engineer who had charge of the construction of the western end of the great San Fran-cisco-Oakland Bay bridge recently opened, and whose death occurred, tragically, on the day on which his work was completed. Mrs. Horton's main interests in San Francisco are, apart from her four children, the Golden Gate kindergarten, of which one of her daughters has been secretary for four years, and the infant shelter, of which another daughter is president. She said that these two organisations were among the most valuable in social work in Sau Francisco. Both were maintained solely by voluntary subscription and donations. Kindergarten Teaching "The Golden Gate kindergarten is maintained for the convenience of working mothers, who are able to leavo their children in competent hands during their hours of work," said Mrs. Horton. "The children are taught in the usunl kindergarten way and provided with large playrooms and suitable meals. .In order to avoid any abuse of the kindergarten all cages are investigated. Jhe establishment is definitely for only working mothers."

In caring for children whose mothers had too much to do to ensure proper care themselves, the Infant Shelter did n tremendous amount of good, continued Il.lrs. Horton. In cases where children v.erc suffering from neglect they were taken into the shelter nurseries for an indefinite period until the conditions could be improved. In cases where expectant mothers could not attend properiv to their young children, these were taken into the shelter until the mothers were able to take charge ol them again. Workers' Qualifications Mrs. Horton added that the shelter, which was actually a block of large nurseries, was started with trained nurses, while a large number of girls and young women did voluntary work. "It is a privilege to be a member ot the Infant Shelter, and members are admitted only when showing a. genuine desire to help," said Mrs. Horton. "They have to give two days a month of their time, at least, to remain members. Practically the only other qualification demanded of a voluntary member is that she should possess a car. as children have to be collected and then taken home from the shelter, or to dentists and doctors, as the cases require."