Home visit by Vincentian

I spend most of my writing time today composing a letter in response to a letter put out by the Executive Director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. the Society’s mission is to serve person to person those in need and her letter does not deal with this. I will spare you my line by line response to her ‘facts’ using their own staff numbers and Rule and Manuel of St. Vincent de Paul in the USA. The full letter will come soon on this web site with all the many footnotes. But for now I offer you a rough draft of the last part of the letter.

Racism and St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVDP) in Milwaukee

North Central Milwaukee where a SVDP thrift store is needed for the conferences who receive thousands of requests each year has a household income of $20,787.00 and is 85% plus African American. In Greenfield and surrounding area where conferences receive around 10 requests per year the average household income is $42,586.00 and it is 85% plus white.

There is many more facts and figures but basically the residents of North Central and South Central (over 85% Hispanic) area have become poorer and poorer over the years and while SVDP Society is spending more and more money, not on the needs of the poor but on building a central office controlled bureaucracy that now consumers about $4 million a year, money which the poor cannot afford. SVDP conferences in North Central and South Central Milwaukee because of the increased burden, outdated phone request system, lack of funds or lack of members have gone out of business or cannot serve all those in need. Meanwhile money for needy conferences or twining goes to Central Office and less money goes toward serving the mission of Society, unpaid members making person to person home visits to those in need.

I do this research and cry out for the poor not because I like to but because I am a proud member of the Society of SVDP and need to. I am a native Milwaukee who moved back home a Vincentian in 1995. The top two executives, you and Michelle, have a total compensation of over $170,000 as reported to IRS tax form from 2012–2013. You and the other 2 million dollars of staff are good intentioned people and what you do may be legal. But the poor and those of us who serve the poor are also good people. Let us create a new society of SVDP in Milwaukee that makes its primary mission person to person home visits. You can do the numbers yourself with your own information and Rules and Manuals of SVDP but let me say, personally and from my heart let us be free to be the Society we are meant to be.

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