02.20.87

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FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS

VOL. 31, NO.8.

Friday, February 20, 1987

Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly

FALL RIVER, MASS.

$8 Per Year

"Homelessness continues Americans out in the cold WASHINGTON (NC) - Homelessness is in as a congressional agenda item these days because so many Americans are out - out freezing in the gutters, out of shelter, out of hope. Estimates of the numbers of homeless range vastly - from 600,000 to 6 million - with Los Angeles claiming some 31,000 alone, according to a 1984 federal study. Mayors describe cities filled with more homeless: families, the unemployed, workers who can't afford housing, the mentally ill turned prematurely out'of treatment centers (if they ever got treatment at all) - in short, more need for shelter everywhere. Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young learned the extent of the problem firsthand when he spent 36 hours, in February cold, disguised as a homeless man. "I passed some of my good friends," YoUl"!g reported later. "I asked one of them for a quarter for a cup of coffee. I knocked on his car window as he was leaving the church - and he didn't even want to look at me." Churches plead that they cannot handle the influx of homeless beseiging church shelters, rectories and other possible refuges.

Now, the House and Senate both seem inclined to" support stronger efforts to solve the national crisis posed by lack of shelter. This interest, however, comes after years of federal budget cuts and even housing boondoggles perpetrated with the blessings of Congress. Father J. Bryan Hehir, U.S. Catholic Conference secretary for social development and world peace, noted to a Senate subcommittee Jan. 29 that Congress in" 1980 appropriated $30.8 billion of President Jimmy Carter's $33.5 billion fiscal 1981 budget request for housing programs. For fiscal 1987, it appropriated only $7.8 billion, which was nonetheless an increase over the $2.3 billion that President Reagan said would be enough. "That is a 75 percent reduction in housing aid," Father Hehir said. Meanwhile, developers of a luxury-class apartment complex in Chicago got Congress to change the rules so a low-interest federal mortgage would be obtainable and to waive a law requiring them to provide low-income units with the more lucrative apartments for the affluent. According to one report, the developers won at least $67

million worth of local and national government favors. All ofthat notwithstanding, this year Congress speedily passed and sent to Reagan legislation to transfer $50 million of federal funds from one budget category to another to provide emergency shelter relief this winter. "There is no doubt tha!_this money is urgently needed, especially in light of the severe winter," Sen. Alan Dixon, D-Ill., said after the bill's passage. "At the same time, we need to put a structure into place which will bring some continuity to the programs which serve the homeless." He introduced an Emergency Housing Act of 1987, to provide $120 million for fiscal 1988 housing and shelter programs, including new efforts to provide transitional living arrangements for the homeless and efforts to help them live on their own in the future. Under his bill, further federal funds would be available as well if states or localjurisdictions provide matching allocations. The House was drafting its own proposals, too. Turn to Page Six

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By Joseph Motta

"I love antiques and old furniture and things, and 1love learning Jimmy Ryan is a normal 19year-old guy. He likes to read, the languages of different countravel and work with wood, and he tries. I'm studying Spanish now hopes to meet the girl of his dreams. and in my free time I'm trying to But Jimmy faces far greater chal- learn Russian, because I think it's lenges than most of his contem- a very interesting language. Jimmy's faith in God and the poraries. He is blind, deaf and church are outstanding. unable to speak. "I have faith in God," he signed, A member ofSt. Dominic's parish, Swansea, he attends Perkins "because he has given me a free life School for the Blind in Water- on this earth. "I know that when I finish my town. On weekends, he is at home with his parents, James and Bar- work here I'm going to heaven, and then I know I'm going to be bara Ryan. The young man communicates home." Jimmy attends Mass with his through finger spelling, a type of sign language utilized by deaf- mother as interpreter, occasionblind persons. He and his mother, ally goes to social events sponwho served as translator, met with sored by the Diocesan Apostolate The Anchor to discuss his story for Persons with Disabilities, and enjoys reading the Bible at home. and courageous faith. What about his faith is most Jimmy is two years away from his Perkins School graduation. His important to the young man? . "Prayer to God," Jimmy says. best subjects are history, particularly study of medieval Europe, "You can have an intimate, personal relationship with God." and reading. Barbara Ryan, a registered nurse "I've decided that when I finish at Perkins School I'd like to get a at St. Anne's Hospital, Fall River, job, save money and plan for my said that before her son lost his sight at age 8 from retina probfuture," Jimmy signed. "I like to work with my hands. lems, he had undergone eye operaMaybe I'll help to build boats. I tions. UN 0 matter what happens, Jesus work with wood at home, where I have a small shop and some tools. will be with you," she remembers

telling Jimmy before one surgery. Now she smiles as she remembers what the boy's anesthetist told her later. He had never, he said, worked with a patient so much at peace. "God's wisdom, love and power can be seen through my words and actions," Jimmy signed. "The worst

blindness is to be blind in the spirit and in the heart." Jimmy's friends include Father Joseph Viveiros, director of the disabilities apostolate. "He's helped me a lot," Jimmy said of the priest. "He's helped me learn a lot about God and Jesus,

and he helped me with my first communion and confirmation. "I'd say he was a special friend, and Sister Kathy [Sister Kathleen Murphy, OP, formerly a disabilities apostolate staffer, now a student] is, too." Turn to Page Six

MOlta photo

JIMMY and Barbara. Ryan communicate while Father Joseph Viveiros looks on. ~;

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02.20.87 by The Anchor - Issuu