Cry of the Poor to St. Vincent de Paul Society of Milwaukee
¹
I, Bob Graf, compelled by conscience and in the spirit of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for the following reasons made three request of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul:

Because the Mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is: “offering person-to-person services to those who are needy and suffering…” ²

Because the Mission of a St. Vincent de Paul Thrift store is: “Serving Christ’s needy as the primary goal of all St. Vincent De Paul Stores.” ³

Because Milwaukee is one of the poorest cities in the U.S.A., the most racially segregated city in the USA, with the highest rate of incarceration of African American males in Wisconsin, the state with the highest rate of incarceration of blacks in the USA, the country with the highest percentage of citizens incarcerated in world, ⁴

Because the central office budget of the Society in Milwaukee has gone up to around 3.5 million dollars and only about .03% of this budget is used for ‘direct services’ like food for meal program or money to needy conference, (4)

Because of an outdated central office system used in allocating home visits and because the number of conferences in areas serving the poorest neighborhoods has gravely decreased, (5)

Because SVDP conferences have to pay the Thrift stores 100% of retail value of donated clothes, household items and new beds, (6)

Because the Society of St. Vincent de Paul states that “all money belongs to the poor.” (7)

Because Deborah Duskey, Executive Director of Milwaukee SVDP declared in a public letter of September 19th, 2014 that

“No funds donated to the poor are being used for the purchase, construction, setup and operation of the store” (new thrift store in Greenfield), (8)

Because the Central Office, without direct permission of Milwaukee SVDP Council has borrowed over a million dollars from the St. Vincent de Paul trust fund for the Greenfield thrift store, consisting of funds given to the Society for needs of the poor, (9)

Because Bob Graf, who has been a faithful member of the Society for over 12 years, serving people in need, was suspended for being a voice for the poor, (10)

We request that the Milwaukee Council of St. Vincent de Paul, the National Council of St. Vincent de Paul and the International Society of St. Paul:

1) Keep the Greenfield Thrift store finances separate and only use the income of the Greenfield store to fund compensation costs for the store and all operating costs for the store and to reimburse SVDP Trust fund and bank loan used for this store.

2) That a long overdue Independent Audit be done of the St. Vincent de Paul Society to take place by a certified audit group that has not be used in the past.

3) That Bob Graf be reinstated as full member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

 If anyone wish to join me in this cry for the poor please add your name and position to this request: contact Bobsyouruncle@sbcglobal.net