WHO needs problems?

Most of us have our own and it takes most of our inner strengths and material resources to keep them solved as fast as they come along. But many of us have literally more problems than we can cope with!

Thus a lot of people turn to the many public agencies-governmental, commercial, social, civic, professional or otherwise for helps which we cannot seem to provide ourselves. Our nation has an honored record of being comprised of people who have concerns for others beyond ourselves. But many of us have problems that are almost unspeakable to our relatives, associates and friends. In matters of sex behavior and adjustment, the places where one can turn for help and understanding are not easy to find. This problem area is still out on a fringe. Those who tread this frontier and dare to seek and recommend solutions walk a razor's edge indeed. On the sidelines stand more fearful souls who are ready to cry, "It cannot be done-why try?"

In Mattachine, as in a baker's dozen other independent similar groups in this country today there ARE those brave enough to believe the difficult is not impossible. These are forward thinking, humanitarian persons who dare to face the challenge of change, and to help bring change about-when it is known that such change is for the enlightenment of a burdened mankind. Their work has not been without effect. In the previous year alone, for instance, 2318 adult men and women came to one organization-Mattachine-for various helps. And to varying degrees these persons received help.

Mattachine's work is such that it cannot and does not set a "fee" for its service. Letters and phone calls receive considered replies that require experience, knowledge and time. Persons in need of professional services -legal, therapeutic and otherwise-are referred to capable and understanding counselors. Direct aids such as assistance in finding employment, a bail bond, emergency subsistence and so on are met generally head-on with` direct assistance, often out of pocket of some understanding friend who can ill afford it.

But Mattachine is not a living well from which help can be dipped again, and again. More properly it is a kind of cistern-nothing can be dipped out unless something has been poured in before.

!

And right there is where Mattachine's real problem is. On the one side, the line of persons seeking help is always there. On the other, the line of those making this help possible almost never forms at all. To this imbalance Mattachine must find a solution.

Time and again Mattachine has made "fund appeals." So often, in fact, that it has been almost one long fund drive for the past decade or so. Some who have read these messages over and over are weary of them. But many have never been too concerned because upon them, fortunately, the boom of misfortune or tragedy has not fallen.

Unfortunately, however, the majority of those seeking help from Mattachine (and the other similar project organizations as well) are so involved with problems that once their immediate stresses are relieved or somehow resolved they forget where they came for help in the darkest hours. Often they are never heard from again. But this does not mean the door can be closed on them: To do so would be to make mockery of a social service program. It must be accepted that not all who are helped will help back.

That's where the more fortunate among us come in. We can give extra meaning to our own lives and achieve a higher purpose for our own existence when we make actual effort to aid the plight of those with heavy burdens. And in any event, we can add to the growing total knowledge about sex behavior by helping to spread education on the subject to dispel the ignorance and prejudice that now prevails.

These projects-coupled with aid to research-comprise the Mattachine program of public service. For obvious reasons, many who would like to serve in this work cannot. But there are those who dare to stand up and be counted, who struggle to continue to give valid meaning to the very word and concept of Mattachine. Never doubt that those in need of help will continue to come along, and in greater numbers. For those who may have recently been arrested and charged with a sex offense, Mattachine holds no fear-particularly if they need bail and an attorney who understands the

case.

The same holds true for the veteran kicked out of the armed forces, or the professional person whose credentials have just been revoked, or many others. Once the chips are down, Mattachine is no longer beyond the pale for them. These people and countless others in the future who will smash headlong into these or similar problems will look in vain for a place to turn for understanding and aid unless Mattachine is maintained!

There we have said it. Keeping the name and service of Mattachine alive is a responsibility far broader than the capability of a few. The help-the dollars-of many are required.

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Recently we announced that Mattachine's minimum budget requirements totaled $20,000 per year, yet the income then was under $15,000. Today the picture changes in spite of efforts to hold costs of operation down: Costs are climbing upward toward $25,000 per year (as demands for service would require twice that amount). Yet the income is barely passing the $16,000-mark. Of this, $4,800 goes for meager salaries. The rest goes