The. Church "''~ol ~~i~hk­
- bood ton.:e.-v~-1\on t.V\ 

C~ic~Q.O 

1 r 1- -A'"!~~ ;i)g;~:;q~ 5 ts 

The Church and Neighborhood 

Conservation in Chicago 

The Experience of a Group 

of Chicago Pastors 

+ 

National Conference of Catholic Charities 
1346 Connecticut Avenue, N . . W. 

Washington 6, D. C. 

1955 

lT~17 



, 

D a idffied 



The Church and Neighborhood 

Conservation in Chicago 

This statement fairly well represents the thinking of the pastors in 

Chicago as expressed in their meetings over a period of two years. It 

indicates the type of progress that has been made in building neighbor-

hood organization in many parishes in the Archdiocese. There was a 

feeling that this material would be helpful to the Chicago pastors and 

to many others throttghottt the country. 
-Rt. Rev. Msgr. John O'Grady. 

About two years ago some 150 pastors of the Archdiocese of Chicago were 
called together by His Eminence Cardinal Stritch to discuss the place of the 
Church in neighborhood conservation in Chicago. At this meeting Cardinal 
Stritch pointed the way ahead for his priests and his people. "There are, " he 
said, "in our city certain areas that are called 'near-blight areas.' The experts 
have studied them and they have marked them out on the map. . . . The 
realization that they can be saved has to be infused into these neighborhoods. 
Then, if the people of these areas work together under proper guidance, doing 
many rather simple things, and if public authority enforces the law, blight in 
these areas can be prevented. " In these few sentences the Cardinal has said 
~ great deal. The people can conserve their neighborhoods if they are so 
minded and if they have the proper inspiration and leadership. Those who 
are inspired by the ideals of neighborhood conservation must work together. 
It is a matter that concerns everyone in the block. When one house begins to 
show signs of deterioration, when one house is converted from a single-family 
house to a multi-family dwelling, it will not be long before blight sets in and 
extends to other homes. 

In his talk to the Chicago pastors, Cardinal Stritch said: "I would like to 
have you consider this problem very thoroughly. We are in a position to do 
a great deal toward building up neighborliness and self-help in our neigh-

3 

.\ 
;) 



borhoods." This too is a significant statement. Building up neighborliness 
and self-help means alerting the people to things that make for dissatisfac-
tion in the individual blocks. Why do people move away from these neigh-
borhoods? Because they become concerned about the lack of law enforce-
ment. They will tell you it is not safe to be on the streets at night. The 
natural thing is to complain about the police. It is a fact, however, that the 
police will be alerted if the people are alerted. If the people want law en-
forcement, the police will give it to them. 

Cardinal Stritch has emphasized the importance of doing simple things in 
the neighborhood. It is surprising what the multiplication of simple things 
will do. A negro family had moved into a certain block in a Chicago parish. 
One man on the block called on the pastor. The pastor suggested that he 
talk over the matter with his neighbors and try to convince them that the 
presence of a negro family would not necessarily blight the block. At the 
suggestion of the pastor a small committee called on the negro family and 
welcomed them to the neighborhood. They emphasized that the people in 
the block were pledged to do everything possible for the conservation of 
their homes and invited the negro family to join with them . They explained 
their attitude toward converting single-family houses into multi-family houses. 
They emphasized their basic ideas on block conservation, their desire to pre-
serve in the block a proper environment for the maintenance and building up 
of family life, in which neighbors would join together in a program of self-
help and in the spirit and practice of Christian charity. 

The people in this block began their program in a simple way . Each one 
agreed to keep his own home in good condition, and to maintain attractive 
lawns and yards. They agreed to help one another in repairing their homes. 
One older worker in the block who could no longer maintain the pace de-
manded by the contractors., agreed to take on odd jobs that he could do on 
his own time and at his own pace. This was much less expensive for the 
neighbors than the use of a contractor . 

What was done on this block soon spread to other blocks. The past<X 
served as the inspirer. As people from different blocks · came to see him he 
encouraged them to join with their neighbors in conserving their homes and 
maintaining a proper environment for family life. 

4 



Abandoning the Old Homes 

In speaking to the Chicago pastors at the meeting previously mentioned, 
Cardinal Stritch emphasized another salient point. "Naturally," he said, "there 
is another phase to our pastoral problem. As things are going now, we are 
. building a new Archdiocese on the perimeter of Chicago. This is a very 
heavy burden. It would not be so great, if we would only try to save Chicago 
------save Chicago from itself, save Chicago from some of its greedy citizens ... 
We can not only reclaim some of the blighted areas ... but we can prevent 
other areas from becoming blighted." People in Chicago have often asked: 
Why do so many families run away from their old homes, from their old 
churches, from their old neighborhoods and find their way out into the 
suburbs where they buy homes of inferior quality? They do not take into 
consideration the additional costs involved in suburban living. They forget 
the long distances that must be travelled to and from work. They forget that 
they must pay their share of the cost of new sewerage systems, new electric 
light installations, new streets and sidewalks, new schools, new churches. 

The factors that enter into this flight from the city are by no means simple. 
The people have a feeling that the old neighborhood is beginning to deteri-
orate. They talk about lack of law enforcement. There is no real di,scussion 
of these problems among the neighbors. There is no discussion of what they 
can do to control the flight from the old neighborhood . No positive effort 
is made to develop a feeling of pride in their old neighborhood, in the old 
Church in which they were baptized, in which they were married and which 
enshrines so many of their sacred memories. 

Flight from the old Chicago neighborhoods is not inevitable. The experi-
ence of a number of pastors has already demonstrated that something can be 
done about it. Many of them have profited by the experience of the older 
parishes. They have had the vision to look ahead and to prepare their people 
by a positive educational program. They have come to regard this educational 
program of equal importance with their school program, as something in which 
every organization of the parish should participate, including the Holy Name 
Society, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Legion of Mary, the Christian 
Family Movement. This program, they feel, must be a positive one. They 
regard it as a chailenge to the development of a new and more positive type 
of social organilation in their parishes . 

5 



Monsignor McMahon, pastor of St. Sabina's Church in Chicago, has aptly 
summed up his own thinking and the thinking of other pastors when he says, 
"We , should aim to give our people every type of service-religious, civic 
and re~reational. . . . By education and especially by example we should sell 
our people the idea that 'nowhere else can you find the service and conveni-
ences that our particular parish can give you.' Since it is impossible for the 
priests themselves to give this service to their people, it is necessary to or-
ganize lay units which will be an extension of their zeal and their charity." 
One can readily see from this statement that Monsignor McMahon is pointing to 
a new day in parish organization. He is pointing to the time when parish 
organizations will be a new social force in the American community. But 
Monsignor McMahon is not thinking about Catholic organizations working 
single-handed and alone. He thinks of them as a force working side by side 
with the forces that are thrown up by other religious and civic groups. ;He 
regards the conservation of the neighborhood and the community as a 
challenge to all the people, not only to organizations but to each individual. 
He is thinking not merely of maintaining buildings and property. He is think-
ing about the upbuilding of people, about the strengthening of family life, 
about the social upbuilding of neighborhoods. In other words, he would 
like to see a new program of Christian neighborliness in every block and in 
every community. He does not think of such a program as something that 
can be developed by government, but rather as something that must grow out 
of the deepest convictions of all the people. Such a program, of course, will 
call for inspired leaders here and there throughout our communities-for 
people who can stimulate self-help, who can plumb the enormous possibilities 
of the individual and the possibilities for self-help and mutual aid that are to 
_be found in every block and in every neighborhood. 

How Does One Begin? 

One of the questions most frequently asked about programs of neighbor-
hood conservation is, how does one begin? The Chicago pastors have learned 
a good deal through the exchange of experiences at their meetings during 
the past two years. This does not mean that each pastor has slavishly followed 
the others. The meetings have stimulated each pastor to do his own thinking 
and to apply the ideas. that he has gathered from the meetings to the peculiar 

6 



problems of his own parish ·and his own neighborhood. The time has come, 
however, to set down in writing certain ideas or guides that may be useful 
in a broad educational program at the parish, neighborhood and community 
levels. 

We should begin by saying that the pastor's best approach is discussion 
with other pastors who have had some experience in neighborhood conserva-
tion. There are some pastors, of course, who feel that this problem does not 
affect them . Their parishes have not been threatened. They are living in new 
neighborhoods; they have new parishes, new congregations. But more and 
more pastors are beginning to feel that no neighborhood is immune. If blight 
is allowed to spread without any controls, there is no stopping it. It will soon 
reach new areas of the city; On the other side there are the pastors who say 
that their parishes are already gone, that there is nothing to be saved except 
a few boarding houses . To these pastors it might be said that many of the old 
downtown and near downtown areas will have to be rebuilt. They will have 
to be rebuilt in such a way as to provide housing accommodations for large 
numbers of families that do not come within the purview of existing housing 
programs. Housing in the suburban areas is being built largely for families 
with . young children. Older . families, for the most part, are still living in 
blighted areas. If these areas have to be cleared, some provision must be made 
for these families through private housing of one kind or another. Only a 
limited number can be accommodated in public housing. In the first place, 
they do not qualify for public housing and secondly, the number of public 
housing units will be quite limited in the foreseeable future. In other words, 
the pastors and the people in these old downtown parishes cannot abandon 
all hope for their restoration . The land that they now occupy cannot be used 
exclusively for industrial, commercial, health and educational programs. A 
very large part of it will still have to be used for housing. Another point 
to be remembered is that the people themselves will have some say as to what 
use is going to be made of this land. We need more public discussion of what 
will happen to the families whose homes are demolished by the clearing of 
the downtown or near-downtown areas . 

The Chicago pastors have begun their work of neighborhood conservation 
in a .very informal way. Some of them have begun by participating in neigh-
hood conservation movements organized by other groups. They have en-

7 



couraged their parishioners to attend the meeting~ of the different groups and 
to participate actively with them . In fact in many instances their own work 
has grown out of the experience they have acquired through such participa-
tion. 

From their part!opation in the work of other groups some pastors have 
decided to begin with a complete census of their parishes. This has given 
them a chance of studying the problems of their families and of the neigh-
borhoods. It has provided a good opportunity of studying the housing prob-
~ems and of encouraging their own people to keep their homes in good con-
dition . It has also given them a chance of encouraging their parishioners to 
join with other groups in neighborhood conservation movements . 

Place of the Laity in Conservation Movement 

As neighborhood conservation has been developed, the priests have come 
to see more clearly the place of the laity in this work. Some of the pastors 
regard it as fundamentally a lay program calling for lay leadership. They re-
gard themselves as inspirers of the movement. They feel that it is an op-
portunity for developing lay leadership in their parishes. They feel that the 
laity can frequently deal more effectively with other groups than the priest. 
Other pastors assume a considerable amount of leadership. They feel that they 
ought to be in the program with the lay people all the time . 

Some Beginnings 

It has been the experience of people interested in genuine neighborhood 
and block organization that the groups or individuals participating in it 
should learn by doing simple . things. Ther~ are many simple things that 
people can do in their own neighborhoods. For example, the pastor can begin 
by keepiag the parish property in good condition; others will follow his 
example. People can get together for the purpose of discussing ways and 
means of keeping their own homes in good repair. They can discuss the 
question of garbage disposal. They can discuss complaints in regard to law 
enforcement. They can discuss ways and means of getting rid of unsightly 
buildings . They can discuss ways and means of making the neighborhood 

8 

J 



a proper place for the maintenance of family life. These simple things do 
not require elaborate organization and yet they help people to grow up; they 
give them an appreciation of their own strengths. As they gain strength by 
doing simple things they will be ready to face new problems. They will 
want to discuss what can be done in an over-all program for housing in their 
district or neighborhood. 

A writer in the Louisville Courier-Journal for May 23, 1954 thus describes 
the conservation movement in the "Back of the Yards" neighborhood in 
Chicago in which the Catholic priests have joined together with other groups: 
"Thousands of families in this once-underprivileged and run-down area have 
teamed together to produce an amazing rejuvenation. 

"Driven by a fierce pride in their homes, churches, families and old associa-
tions, they've abandoned the practice of 'letting George do it.' 

"For the first time in a generation, new homes are being built on old 
vacant lots. There's the gleam of new white paint on once-rundown houses. 
Local banks are beginning to increase the dollars available for home-improve-
ment loans." 

What are Our Housing Needs? 

Our pastors and neighborhood leaders have learned that they must know 
the needs of their own communities before they can agree upon housing or 
neighborhood betterment goals. In this area, neighborhood leaders may bring 
an important influence to bear on city and national planning. 

No . matter how successfully the neighborhood rehabilitation and renewal 
program may be carried out, it cannot possibly meet the total needs of the 
people without significant additions to the housing supply. Neighborhood 
leaders should know that there were 15 million substandard homes in the 
United States as disclosed by the 1950 Census, and that 10 million of these 
homes were located in urban centers. These homes must be replaced in the 
years ahead, and families living in them must be rehoused. National housing 
experts estimate that if in the next 20 or 30 years we are to replace bad hous-
ing, keep abreast of current obsolescence, replace homes destroyed by disaster 
or demolished for some public purpose and at the same time provide decent 

9 



housing for new families, we must provide at least 2,000,000 new homes 
each year. This is twice as many new homes as are included in present , esti-
mates, even with the aids provided in the Housing Act of 1954 . In 1950 
there were 1,106,119 dwellings in the city of Chicago, as shown by the Census; 
23% of these, or more than 250,000, were substandard, that is, they were 
dilapidated, lacked inside hot running water or bathing or toilet facilities. 

It is doubtful if the nation will plan for its actual needs, until neighbor-
hoods and larger communities survey their own housing requirements and 
insist that they be met. Neighborhood leaders in Chicago can insist upon 
a survey of the facts; they can insist that planning, redevelopment and housing 
officials cooperate in the discovery and publication of those facts . Neighbor-
hood leaders and their associates can start with a survey of housing needs 
in their own immediate neighborhoods. A realistic housing program can be 
built more effectively from the neighborhood up than from the Fderal Gov-
ernment down. 

On the basis of need it will be discovered that new homes must be pro-
vided for many groups-families with children, families whose members are 
older, and single people. Housing must be provided for people of different 
income levels. For years we have estimated that at least ten percent of our new 
homes must be allocated for families of very low income, through .low-rent 
public housing. Those families cannot afford to pay the rents that private 
enterprise is compelled to charge. The upper-middle-income groups as well 
as those in the highest brackets can and must be taken care of by private 
enterprise. 

Thus, we have the great challenge of providing decent shelter for nearly 
one-third of our families who fall within the lower middle-income group, and 
are not eligible for public housing. They also must have adequate shelter 
at a price they can afford to pay. One of our best hopes to meet this need 
is cooperative housing. A number of Chicago pastors are giving serious · con-
sideration to cooperative housing. It presents a serious challenge to theh1 . 
While we do not have many illustrations of cooperative housing under Church 
auspices in the United States, we have many outstanding examples in Canada, 
Germany, Belgium and Holland. In this country cooperative housing has had 
limited success under labor union , veteran and non-profit foundation Spbnsor-
ship. We must also explore ways and means of providing better credit facili-

10 



ties, lower interest rates, and longer amortization terms for families of middle 
income. Private enterprise, if it will, can do much to pioneer in this field . 

While we have real hopes for cooperative housing, we question whether this 
implement can provide housing on the scale needed by our lower-middle-
income families. FHA can reach the upper middle-income groups, including 
those who can afford to pay over $85 a month but it certainly cannot reach 
those who can pay a maximum of $65 a month. A new type of government 
assistance is needed to enable this group to meet the service charges on their 
own homes. 

Progress During the Past Two Years 

The priests of Chicago have made real progress in the promotion of neigh· 
borhood and parish conservation groups during the past two years. They have 
really led the way in the United States in pioneering in neighborhood self-
help organization. They have given us a new picture of the potentialities of 
Catholic organization on a parish basis. Under their leadership, we have 
witnessed a new type of Catholic organization that expresses the best in our 
Catholic life. Under their leadership, we find the people working together 
as neighbors in their common interests. We see them spreading the practice 
of personal service in the block and in the neighborhood. We see a spirit 
growing up that represents a truly Christian revival, often reaching out and 
embracing groups of other religious faiths, so that the whole community 
moves as one towards the basic objective not merely of conserving the physical 
properties of the neighborhood, but of promoting the growth of the individual, 
and the development of a sense of community responsibility for the building 
of neighborhoods in which the finest ideals of family and religious life ca n 
be realized. 

One of the many significant things about this new type of parish organiza-
tion in Chicago is the recognition on the part of the priests that they cannot 
work alone, that they need lay leadership and close working relationships with 
other religious and civic groups. 

It has been encouraging to note the extent to which members of the different 
parishes have been working with other groups, trying to learn from them as 

11 



well as to give them an understanding of their own ideals, their own philos-
ophy and their own objectives. This is really a new phase in the develop-
ment of Catholic life and in the development of neighborhood leadership in 
the community as a whole. 

Relationships with Governmental Organizations 

It is now generally recognized in Chicago that the vast programs of neigh-
borhood conservation that are being developed cannot possibly succeed with· 
out the participation and the leadership of voluntary groups, and without in-
dependent thinking on the part of these groups, especially those organized 
on a neighborhood and parish basis. Such leadership on the part of the citizens 
is necessary to put the program on a high plane. It is necessary in order to 
lift it above the selfish interests of the different groups involved. It is neces-
sary in order to lift it above the thinking and planning of highly specialized 
groups. Enlightened lay people will recognize the contribution of these special-
ized groups, but as they study the problems in their own neighborhood, they 
will recognize more ·and more that plans for Chicago cannot be made by 
specialized groups, that they must be made by an enlightened citizenry or-
ganized in the neighborhood and in the parish and inspired by the highest 
ideals of Christian neighborhood service. 

Steps Ahead 

The conferences held by the priests m the different sections of Chicago 
during the past two years should be continued and at the same time an effort 
should be made to include other priests in the discussions. This is a practical 
method of further utilizing the experience that has already been acquired. 

Another important step for the future is the development of a literature 
that will make the experience of the Chicago parishes better known to the 
Catholic people as a whole in the Archdiocese and throughout the country. 
Some beginnings have been made in the development of such a literature, but 
much more needs to be done. The priests in Chicago have been somewhat 
timid about publicizing their experience. They have felt that they were 
struggling with difficult problems and were gradually finding their way. They 

12 



were also afraid that too much publicity might not help them. Their note of 
caution, however, must be recognized in any of the literature that is de-
veloped. In the development of the literature, one must always keep in mind 
the positive side of neighborhood conservation. What the priests have been 
thinking about is the conservation of family life, the building of neighborhoods 
in which the finest ideals of Catholic family life will be possible. They are 
experim~tnting with a type of organization that would be of value in all 
parishes, not merely those that are stricken with blight, but also parishes that 
are struggling for the development of programs that will bring new life to 
their people. 

There is much that the schools-grade schools, high schools and colleges-
can do in the development of the new type of parish organization and programs 
that are being envisaged by the priests of Chicago. Some of the high schools 
have already sponsored contests designed to improve neighborhood life. They 
are talking about the extent to which high scht>Ol children can contribute to 
the beautification of their own homes and their gardens. This is bound to 
give the young people a pride in making their neighborhoods a better place 
in which to live. What has been done in the high schools might be followed 
in the higher grades in the grammar schools. It should also be possible for 
colleges to relate their teaching to ways and means in which the students can 
participate in programs for the improvements of their own neighborhoods. 

13 





I 
Oj 




	406127-001
	406127-002
	406127-003
	406127-004
	406127-005
	406127-006
	406127-007
	406127-008
	406127-009
	406127-010
	406127-011
	406127-012
	406127-013
	406127-014
	406127-015
	406127-016