This is a true story still unfolding. The names in this story have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty. The St. Vincent De Paul Society is an international society of the Catholic Church whose main mission is to make home visits to people in need and offer them vouchers for essential items like beds.

Day One: Earnest, a 40 year old man living in North Central Milwaukee, calls the central office of the St. Vincent De Paul Society in the afternoon seeking a bed. He has been sleeping on the floor since moving into his apartment. Sheri at the central office of St. Vincent De Paul says he needs to call back at 9am the next morning with his request for a bed.

Day two: Earnest does call back at 9am to be told by Sharon that he lives in an area not served by a St. Vincent De Paul conferences and thus cannot be served with a home visit.

A neighbor and friends gives Earnest the number of Fred, a St. Vincent De Paul member that served her. Earnest calls Fred asking about a bed. Fred asks Earnest where he lives and Fred gives him an address within the boundaries of Fred’s St. Vincent De Paul conference at St. Gaul’s. Fred asks Earnest to call back to Central office and ask again for a home visit. Earnest does that and speaks to Susan who tells him that that he must call back at 9am the next day. Earnest calls Fred says to try calling back the next day at 9am and if he gets no satisfaction to call him back.

Day three: Earnest calls at 9am to the St. Vincent De Paul central office only to hear the same runaround, that he does not live in a an area served by a conference. Earnest call Fred and tells him the results. Fred calls the central office. Frieda answers and he asks to speak to the director, Alice. Frieda says Alice is not in. So Fred asks to speak to Julie who works with volunteers like himself. Frieda transfer the call and Fred is put on hold for a very long time and Fred eventually hangs up and calls back. This time he asks for whoever takes incoming calls from people in need. He is transferred to Veronica. He gives Veronica the address of Earnest and asks if he lives in an area served by a conference of St. Vincent De Paul. Veronica says yes. Fred asks what conference it is and she says it is St. Gaul’s, the conference that Fred belongs too.

Fred quickly calls Earnest back and tells him to call the St. Vincent Central office which just had confirmed he lives in the area service by St. Gaul’s. Earnest calls the office right away and then calls Fred back to say that they asked him to call back at 9am the next day. Fred calls the office again and is referred to Julie who he understands from Frieda is in her office. Frieda asked for his name, Fred gives it and then Fred is transferred to Julie’s answering machine.

That night Fred writes an email to three members of St. Vincent De Paul, Carol, the president of his conference, Bob, the Vice President of the central council of St. Vincent De Paul and Julie, who is in charge of volunteers in the Central office telling them of this runaround. Carol, the president of Fred’s conference writes back saying he should not being blaming persons all the time. Fred writes back and says it is shame not blame he is talking about in Earnest’s pursuit of bed to sleep on.

Day four: The next morning Julie from the Central Office returns Fred call. She asks him why he called her and he explains the runaround Earnest is getting trying to get a bed. Julie says Earnest had called that morning and his request was accepted and would be sent to St. Gaul’s. She explained the operator had mistaken Earnest’s street for a boulevard rather than a street using the system they used to determine who gets served. Fred thought this is the same outdated software system he had offered to replace some months ago but his offer was rejected. Fred asked if she could put a note on the request for home visit to St. Gaul to direct the request to him as soon as it came in. Julie says she would try to do that.

Fred called Earnest and Earnest confirmed that this time when he called at 9am he was told he would receive a home visit from someone at St. Gaul’s. However, he was told it would be another two or more weeks before someone at St. Gaul’s would answer his request.

Fred plans to contact Joe who handles the paper work for the St. Gall’s conference and ask him to give him the request form as soon as it comes in.
Earnest continues to sleep on the floor and Fred wonders about all the people who get the message from the central office “We do not serve your area” and know no one like himself to call. Earnest and Fred both wait and wonder why such a simple request for a home visit for a bed gets such a runaround.

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