during one of his fireside chats Roosevelt said “I can assure you, that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under the mattress.” Because of the crashes of the economy, people did not want to keep their money in the hands of the government, let alone spend any it. But if there is no money in circulation, their is no money to pay people for working and such. Calming their nerves was the first step to getting them to apply for jobs and trust their money in the hands of the government.
Its like when a person is depressed, and the therapist tells them "go outside" even tho they might be scared or don't want to, but it eventually gets the person back on their feet.