Charity, like poetry, should be cultivated, if only for its being graceful.
-- herman melville, 1857

HUMAN SERVICES

Human services philanthropy is all about empowerment—helping people to become all that they can be as human beings. Some charities in this field aim at reducing immediate needs—providing food, shelter, clothing and health care for those who lack them. Others aim at mitigating systemic, root causes of need—providing training and education, therapies against substance abuse, alternatives to oppressive social structures, etc. The first group, it is said, “give a person a fish;” the second “teaches them to fish" so that they can support themselves. Both are necessary—but are even they sufficient? Not quite, and few stop there. Most also attend to spiritual and moral support, building self-esteem and encouragement to keep on trying. If philanthropy only mitigated needs, success would be the elimination of needs, and thus of the need for any further philanthropy—running itself out of business. The classical tradition of philanthropy is never-ending, because human progress is limitless, and we can all, always—both benefactors and beneficiaries—do better. What is success? Full self-development for everyone, and universal circumstances that promote and do not impede the fullest self-development of everyone. Humane philanthropy—as with Aeschylus and Prometheus