History 101

At a recent retreat for the St. Anthony Foundation Board, we held back the demands of a busy agenda long enough to listen to some reflections on the 58 year history of this organization. This “History 101” was presented by a friar/historian who teaches at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Joe Chinnici, OFM. He traced the work of St. Anthony’s through six decades by focusing on: the historical context, the “roads not taken,” and the changing faces of the poor that St. Anthony’s serves.

The history of St. Anthony Foundation has to be examined in light of the broader social historical soil where it took root and grew: the post WWII 1950’s with out-of-work vets, the 1960’s with the “War on Poverty,” the growth of non-profits in the 70’s & 80’s, and the widening income gaps of the 90’s and 00’s. The Foundation’s services were developed in response to the times. In turn, they addressed or redefined the issues those decades brought to the fore.

Fr. Chinnici highlighted significant choices that determined St. Anthony’s direction by considering those roads that were not taken. Only with the perspective that an historian provides can we appreciate St. Anthony’s founder, Fr. Alfred Boeddeker and his decision to serve all those who came to the doors of our Dining Room when they opened in 1950. In those days “soup kitchens” run by religious groups required some form of creedal affirmation as the ticket to a free meal. Fr. Alfred refused to go down that road. All those in need were welcomed into the Dining Room because of their inherent dignity as human beings and not because of their religious profession.

Another “road not taken”—only opened until the 60’s and 70’s—was the opportunity for government grants to support the work of the Foundation. Fr. Alfred understood and encouraged the need for state welfare programs but consciously decided to forego government funding because of his commitment to a personalist approach. Our guests were to be served according to their need, not as dictated by government restrictions and reporting requirements.

Finally, St. Anthony Foundation has always responded to new groups of poor people and their emerging needs. In the 1950’s, a new class of poor were produced by the dislocation of folks moving into the cities from rural areas. In the 60’ and 70’s the disappearance of industrial production jobs and the lack of opportunities for unskilled workers produced an underclass of the hard-core unemployed. The 80’s and 90’s witnessed the feminization of poverty and the graying of poverty, as women and seniors swelled the ranks of America’s poor. Today a visit to any one of our programs will reveal “the new poor.” You’ll find immigrants with their kids waiting outside our pediatric clinic. You’ll learn that the man eating across from you in the Dining Room is hurrying in order to get to his security guard job. If you talk to one of the young men from our Fr. Alfred Center who is washing dishes you may hear how methamphetamines almost destroyed his life.

St. Anthony Foundation has always tried to remain close to the people we serve. The faces change, the needs for programs shift, the challenges seem always to increase, but St. Anthony’s is there.