The poor, people in need, are difficult to organize, not because of their opposition but due to their oppression by politicians, middle class and rich. There are so many organization that claim to be helping the poor, but are keeping them down.

This morning I attended three prayer vigils for homicide victims, all in North Central Milwaukee, the most racially segregated area in Milwaukee, the most racially segregated city in the United States (85% African American) and the poorest area in Milwaukee, the second poorest city in the USA. I understood poverty, poor education, high criminalization, high unemployment as some of the cause of an environment that encourages, not justifies, violence and homicides. However I do not think I fully understood the “breakdown of the family” as a cause till today.

My friends who live in North Central Milwaukee have told me of how in the past the area was a thriving community, with close family and friend ties. Now as you drive from one homicide site to another you noticed the number of houses waiting for demolition, the number of empty lots where house once existed. But also, today, I noticed the number of house that were sale by a broker or by contacting the city. I noticed about eight of these houses driving from homicide site to another one. It sounds like a great plan, the city will sell you these houses for $1. However, there are conditions: You must commit to the money to bring the house up to code, which can $30, 000 or more and live in the house for five years. If one has $30,000 or more they can buy a house ready to be lived in or, in the case of Habitat for Humanity, build a new house. And, if you spend 30 to 50 thousand dollars to rehab the house you now own a house in a neighborhood infested with abandoned houses, slum landlords and falling house values. This circle of housing vacant or torn down leads to people moving to rental properties, being homeless and moving away. The breakdown of the families and neighborhoods is escalated.

I have driven a number of central city residents around the area. They are quick point out houses where family and friends once lived. One of my gripes about the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Milwaukee is that many in need in North Central Milwaukee live in areas they do not serve and when they do make home visits to families it is often months after the initial call to Central Office. A friend tried to make home visits in this area recently to find some of his contacts had called 4–8 months earlier and now had moved, did not respond to phone call or had gotten what they needed already. The mission of St. Vincent de Paul is not to give out things but to build person to person relationships between poor and members. How can this be done when people in need are “not in the right area” or do not have basics household items like beds, stove or refrigerator which St. Vincent de Paul is the only source, of many hundreds of organization serving people in need in North Central Milwaukee.

When I was trying to get the million dollars plus the Church received by closing and selling my former parish I was inspired by friends to write a parable of what would happen if the million dollars was used to provide beds, stoves and refrigerators for people in need. The essay was called Thy Kingdom Come on Earth as It is in Heaven. I even wrote a proposal from the parable of how the money could start a sustainable fund to serve people in need for years to come. The parable and proposal was ignored or just given a pat on the back and ignored. The million dollars plus went to bankers to put in ‘trust fund’ for ‘future church use.’ Presently there is four million plus of “money belonging to poor” borrowed or donated that is being invested in a store in the suburbs. The store is supposed to generate profits to help the mission of the Society in Milwaukee to serve people in need but after four million plus of investment and over six months of operation cannot be sustainable let alone profitable.

People in need understand what is happening to them, the racism and oppression they face, but often feel hopeless to do something about it. People claim to know best what is best for the poor but by imposing their way of doing things and helping people in need are actually contributing the problem of poverty and run down neighborhoods. A priest friend in India, who was from the lowest sector of India society, told men how he prayed to God to once again be like the poor he served, blessed and full of grace. He got a response from God, he said: “I have given all my graces and blessings to the poor and you must go there to find it.” Blessed Frederic Ozaman, founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul said something similar:“We must do what is most agreeable to God. Therefore, we must do what our Lord Jesus Christ did when preaching the Gospel. Let us go to the poor”.

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