ST. Vincent De Paul, STOP Taking
Millions from the Poor to
Build Suburban Store”
When a friend and I were leafleting the neighborhood around the Center Street Library today for the “Poor People’s Picket” we met a lady who remembered the St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) store on Fond du Lac Ave. that was closed twelve years ago. She remembers getting vouchers there, purchasing items she needed and even being a volunteer worker for three months. When the store was closed there was a promise that another store would soon be relocated on the North Side. Now, 12 years later there is no SVDP thrift store in North Central Milwaukee and the local St.Vincent de Paul Society is investing around four million dollars to build a Thrift store in the suburb of Greenfield where it is not needed.
Since her low income neighborhood is not served any longer by St. Vincent de Paul with a store or home visits (the major mission of the Society), she would like to join the Poor People’s Picket at the new store in Greenfield. Also we need the support of the wider community, to communicate our message: invest money “belonging to poor” with people in need.
The poor in Milwaukee live in the second poorest city in the USA and in the most racially segregated. This means a majority of the poor live in North Central and South Central Milwaukee, two neighborhoods that are under served by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in home visits and also by many other public and private organizations.
Please join the “Poor People’s Picket” Saturday, July 18th from 9:30–10am on the sidewalk in front of the new St. Vincent de Paul store at 4476 S. 108 Street, Greenfield, WI. We will meet at 9:15. Better yet, if you have a vehicle and can drive, meet us at the Center Street Library at 8:30am and give a ride to people in need to the picket.
Working together we can exercise our option for the poor and picket for economic equality.
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