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Tale of Two St. Vincent de Paul Stores of the Milwaukee Council of Society
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Facts
The facts below are taken from documents of the Milwaukee St. Vincent de Paul, Rule of the Society and U.S. Manuel of U.S.A. St. Vincent de Paul Society and U.S Census information.
Mission of Society of St. Vincent de Paul
“Inspired by Gospel values, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic lay organization, leads women and men to join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering in the tradition of its founder, Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, and patron, St. Vincent de Paul.
Mission of St. Vincent de Paul Stores
St. Vincent DePaul Thrift Stores throughout the United States are mutually formed in an association of lay employees and volunteers dedicated to serving our needy sisters and brothers. All who come to our Stores are welcomed with dignity and respect. Our hope is they leave as friends and return to shop with us again. Those who cannot afford the clothing, furniture and other household items are provided them through a Vincentian referral system. …Serving Christ’s needy is the primary goal of all St. Vincent De Paul Stores.
The Milwaukee Council of St. Vincent de Paul borrowed 3.2 million dollars from Securant Bank and Trust and the St. Vincent de Paul Trust Fund for purchase and renovation of SVDP Greenfield Store.
Milwaukee is the most racially segregated city in the USA and the second poorest city. The concentration of poor and segregated is in North Central Milwaukee, over 85% African American and South Central Milwaukee, 85% Hispanic. (See M.A.P.S.)
In Greenfield, the home of the new St. Vincent de Paul store the average household income is $42,586.00 and Greenfield is 85% plus white. In North Central Milwaukee, where a SVDP is solely needed, the average household income (53206) is $20,787.00 and the area is 85% plus African American.
“Councils may receive funding requests from charitable organizations outside the Society. Funds donated to the Society, however, must be used only for works that involve the personal service of Society members.” (Manuel of St. Vincent de Paul Society of USA p. 37)
The Milwaukee Council of St. Vincent de Paul Society is presently engaged in a $950, 000 fundraising campaign but only a small portion, $100, 000, is to be used only for works that involve the personal service of Society members.”
The Milwaukee SVDP central Council approved projected budget for 2014–2015 is for $3,417,518: $2, 068, 364 for compensation, $182, 600 for new merchandise, $1, 309, 580 for operating expenses, and $154, 200 (4.5%) for direct services to people in need. The budget has a projected deficit of $297, 129.
Items donated to or purchased by Milwaukee Council of SVDP, clothing, beds, household items are sold to SVDP conferences at full retail value for vouchers for persons in need. (Same retail price sold in stores.)
To protect their members, the Society, and the public, Councils should have annual audits conducted according to accepted accounting practices. (Rule: Part III, Statute 27)
St. Vincent de Paul central office fundraising letter “Fast Facts” says:
Handled more that 11, 000- referrals from Milwaukee County 211 system.” IMPACT, 211 reports “In 2014 we provided 5,170 referrals for our callers to St Vincent De Paul Society in Milwaukee County.”
In fundraising letter “Fast Facts” the Milwaukee SVDP central office claims to have “an additional 8,354 visits were made to people in senior care facilities, prisons and other non-home locations.” Yet the St. Vincent de Paul Milwaukee Society list no such programs or services on its web site.
Opinions
Many of these opinions could be fact, true or false, if the Milwaukee St. Vincent de Paul central office staff and key leaders were not so secretive and non-transparent.
From observation of records the Milwaukee St. Vincent De Paul has not had a truly independent audit of financial records in years. It seems like the same company does audit year after year.
From reliable sources the new St. Vincent de Paul Store in the suburb of Greenfield is not only not serving the poor with financial resources but the revenue from store is unable to keep up with compensation for store staff, around 40 persons, and the operating cost of the store, including paying suburb of Greenfield payments in lieu of taxes. The store does not seem to be sustainable yet alone pay back the 3.2 million dollars loaned to purchase and renovate the building. So new Greenfield store is not only not serving persons in need but is draining donations of items and monies directed to poor, persons in need.
The policy, of last fall, of making conferences pay full retail price of vouchers for clothing, bedding and household items is continuing. For example, a conference writing a $50 voucher for a family in need for clothing and household items must pay the Milwaukee Central Office store $50 for items that were donated free to St. Vincent de Paul. As the ‘facts’ above point out only a little over 4% of Milwaukee Council approved and projected budget is for direct services to people in need.
The statement to donors by SVDP that they can be “ensured that 91.5% of every dollar raised went directly to support people in need” is based in no reality and cannot be backed up with reliable numbers. Even if compensation to employees of the Milwaukee store and two meal programs are counted in this statement there is no way this statement is remotely true. As for serving the main mission of the Society, members making persons to persons home visits to persons in need, a few, if any, of the 75 or employees of Central office participate in this mission.
The finances and 3.5 budget of St. Vincent de Paul are tightly controlled by one staff member, financial executive. Executive director, Council President and select members get financial information from this one person.
Most persons in need when they call St. Vincent de Paul office receive the message we do not serve your area. Many of these persons are from the North Central and South Central areas of Milwaukee, the two most racially segregated and poorest areas of the city, where Catholic Churches have been closed or do no longer work with St. Vincent de Paul Society. Thus most members of St. Vincent de Paul Society, due to this outdated system of assigning home visits, make few, if any home visits, the main mission of Society, in a year. Record of people in need rejected may be kept at Central Office but are not made know to members or public.
With more and more money going to subsidize a St. Vincent de Paul Thrift store serving the middle class suburbanites, fewer and fewer people in need in the 2nd poorest city in the USA are being served.
Men Jeans
