Helping People

George McDonald, a Catholic with a deep committment to public service is showing people that the way out of despair and poverty is one of personal responsibility, work, and sacrifice (traditional Catholic and American virtues) and that is also what works best for the chronic homeless who his Doe Fund in New York appears to be helping better than most.

Helping People
to Help Themselves
A Guide for Donors

“The callus between Napoleon Webb’s right thumb and forefinger was only a little smaller than the smile on his face.

“Tough and thick from mopping floors at the homeless shelter, Webb’s hands were a mark of pride.

“I’m left-handed, and I guess it has something to do with the way I sweep,” he explains, definitely glad to be asked.

“Because of the callus, the middle-aged Webb’s sweeping days were almost over. He was in his last month at the Doe Fund’s [founded by George McDonald] innovative work program, Ready, Willing & Able (RW&A).

“Having finished nine months of training, he would soon transfer to another Doe enterprise, Pest@Rest.

“In 1989, RW&A landed its first city contract under New York Mayor Ed Koch. Since then it has “graduated” 1,500 formerly homeless adults, mostly males with substance-abuse problems who have spent time in prison.

“Private employment is mandatory, and graduates must pay for their own apartment.

“According to Doe, approximately 67 percent are still privately employed a year after graduation. ….

“McDonald’s Doe Fund, created in 1985, now runs three shelters in New York and another in Jersey City. Its supporters include the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Clark Foundation, the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, the Starr Foundation, the Marvin and Donna Schwartz Foundation, the Carson Family Charitable Trust Fund, and the Achelis and Bodman Foundations.

“The Fund was named after a homeless woman known only as Mama Doe who froze to death on Christmas Eve in 1985 after the police locked her out of Grand Central Station.

“In the early 1980s, McDonald had befriended Doe while spending 700 consecutive nights handing out food to the homeless in and around Grand Central. When he saw her picture in the New York Daily News, she was wearing a scarf he’d given her. “I suddenly realized giving away food and clothing wasn’t enough,” he says. “I had to do more.”

“Educated in Roman Catholic schools, McDonald helped run Senator Ted Kennedy’s 1980 campaign for President.

“Through the 1980s, McDonald repeatedly ran for Congress as a forceful advocate for the homeless. He never won. In 1989 he became a member of Mayor David Dinkins’ Commission on the Homeless, helping chairman Andrew Cuomo write the final report.

“The document—which became quite controversial— concluded that most single adults were in New York homeless shelters not because they lacked housing, but because of drug addiction, mental illness, and other dysfunctional behavior. The report recommended more shelters along the Doe model, balancing “rights and responsibilities.” When Cuomo became U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton, he contracted with Doe to work with him on homelessness.

“What made this country?” asks McDonald rhetorically.

“Whatever your background, you can make it here if God blesses you with the ability. All we offer at Doe and RW&A is opportunity. We serve the hardest of the hard. And it works.

“When they’re finished, all they need is a program called ‘America.’” (pp. 32, 37 & 38)