Vincentians

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A Week in Prayers May 8 — May 12
A Week in Prayers May 8 — May 12 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Monday, May 8

Throughout the hours and works of the day,
And whatever I think I’ve achieved,
Before You, Father, I place all my needs,
And the needs of the neighbor I serve.
I knock on Your door, I ask for Your mercy,
But Your will, not mine, be done.
Amen

Tuesday, May 9

How would my prayer be different, Lord,
How would I call out Your name,
If I had all the things I would otherwise ask,
Would my prayer to You still be the same?

How would I pray from a foxhole, Lord?
How would I pray in the rain?
How would I pray in my desperation?
How would I pray in my pain?

How would I pray when I have all I want?
Would my prayer still be shouted out loud?
Or would I sit satisfied here in my pew,
And just mumble along with the crowd?

For all that I have, and all I have not,
May I sing out in praise of Your name!
Fill me with love and with gratitude, Lord,
So that all of my prayers are the same.
Amen

Wednesday, May 10

Help me to love You more, Lord Jesus,
To give You my heart and soul,
To serve in Your name and for Your sake,
To bear my cross and follow You.
Amen

Thursday, May 11

All that I have is Yours, O Lord,
My time, my possessions, my talents,
And even my life is Yours,
Given to me only to share.
And the gift of Your love
Which I share without limit
Still fills me to overflowing.
Amen

Friday, May 12

Christ my Lord and Savior,
I raise my eyes
And raise my prayers to You.
My feet are firmly planted,
As I work in Your Holy Name,
But my eyes are not cast downward
For my hope does not lie
In the things of this world.
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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Stores Corner — Staffing Standards / Labor Management
Stores Corner — Staffing Standards / Labor Management 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Written by: Lori Malcom, Northeast Region — Archdiocese of Boston

Determining the appropriate amount of labor hours is critical for an efficient retail operation and can appear to be a very daunting task. Guessing can often lead to overstaffing or understaffing, each of which has negative effects on the bottom line and employee morale.

The following tips will help guide you through the process and may be applied to existing stores operations as well as those in the planning or feasibility stage.

Start by determining the size of the store and hours of operation. Be sure to include the hours the store is open for donations. A manager/assistant manager or lead staff person must be in the store at all times. You can determine if your store will have an assistant manager or lead based on the size and hours of your operation. Some smaller stores may not need an assistant manager. You will need to consider any break periods for the staff to insure you have proper coverage during these times.

Consider all of the duties needed, including sales, production, merchandising, janitorial etc. For example, you will need a cashier and a donation attendant during all business hours. Be sure to include hours when multiple cashiers and or donation attendants may be need for busy times.

Allocate an appropriate amount of time for each job duty for each weekday of operation. Some duties have established labor standards, such as production, others will be reasonably determined estimates. Discuss this with your store leadership and consider their input. Staff acknowledgement and buy-in is the key to an efficient labor standard, accountability, and success!

Please consider attending the National Assembly Stores Meeting on September 6, 2023 in St. Louis, MO to learn more ways to serve your thrift store customers.

Please encourage your store personnel to subscribe to the to the e-Gazette, by emailing mboyer@svdpusa.org.

If you have a topic that you would like addressed in a future Stores Corner article, please e-mail our Director of Stores Support-Jeff Beamguard at jbeamguard@svdpusa.org.

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05-11-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
05-11-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 900 900 SVDP USA

Dear Vincentian Friends,

Last weekend I met Sister Norma Pimentel at a regional meeting of our Society in Texas. She is a highly respected leader of relief efforts for immigrants in the Rio Grande area, and I have long admired her work. In the next few weeks, you may see Sister Norma interviewed on national news programs because the situation with refugees on the U.S. southern border will receive a lot of coverage. Talking with her put me in touch with the human stories of suffering and fear that are often ignored in the political narrative the surrounds this complex problem.

Some have called Sister Norma the Mother Teresa of the Rio Grande, but I think she is more like our Blessed Sister Rosalie Rendu. Sister Norma is trusted and beloved by those refugees she serves, and she is also trusted and respected by border patrol agents and their leaders. (She tells me the agents all have her cell phone number and regularly call her.) Like Sister Rosalie, Sister Norma is trusted by the poor and is trusted by those who have the resources to provide aid.

Sister has stories to tell that humanize the refugee situation at our southern border. She emphasizes that you need to get close to the people to understand, and she believes that it is possible to protect our borders and still respect humanity. We Vincentians understand the need to get close to the situation and listen to those who suffer. We serve people who are without shelter, without food, and without adequate healthcare, and who are also portrayed with a narrative that fails to capture the real suffering and fear experienced by people living through complex, difficult realities.

The answers to migration, homelessness, unemployment, addiction, hunger and lack of healthcare are complicated, with people of goodwill disagreeing on how to respond. Frequently, however, the political narrative is not centered on finding solutions but rather on scoring political points and demonizing people with opposing ideas. Let’s not get caught up in this as we advocate for compassionate responses to the serious problems from which we see people suffer.

Sister Rosalie and Sister Norma are role models for us in their sharing of stories that show the human faces of those they serve – so that the real people involved are not cast as mere pawns in divisive political debates. We can do that, too, but we need to take the time to have actual conversations in which we listen to those we are helping. That takes some extra time and effort, not just talking to get the information to fill out an application or voucher.  When we do that, Frederic Ozanam says, “we begin to know the elements of this formidable problem of misery; then we have the right to propose serious measures, … instead of frightening society.”

In that same speech Ozanam gave in 1848, he also tells us, “when the times are so difficult, the problems so serious, the designs of God so hidden, how could the finest citizens not be divided and not bring to their opposite opinions all the passion of their patriotism?” There will be a lot of political news in the next few weeks that affects the people we serve, and we Vincentians will not always agree amongst ourselves about what should be done. Let’s be sure we always respect each other and work to preserve the human dignity of all who suffer – because in them we have seen the face of the suffering Christ.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
SVdP National President

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One Home Visit Can Change So Many Lives
One Home Visit Can Change So Many Lives 1080 1080 SVDP USA

The hallmark of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s work is the Home Visit. Vincentians go and meet their neighbors in need in their homes, where they are at ease, and feel comfortable sharing their story. There, we can determine the best way to help. Be it financial assistance to keep utilities running, putting food on the table, or help making rent. Other times, the help they offer, can mean so much more.  

Vincentians Fred and Susan from the St. William Conference in Round Rock, Texas went on what they believed would be a run-of-the-mill Home Visit, but it turned out to be anything but normal. 

When they arrived at Rocio’s home, they immediately noticed that something wasn’t right. They were met by broken dishes all over the house and holes in the walls. They had stopped by to offer help with utilities, but as soon as they walked through the door, they knew there was so much more they could do. 

Fred and Susan helped Rocio with her utility bill and left. But they knew Rocio needed more help. “God was talking to us, telling us we needed to go back,” said Susan. 

Over their next few visits with Rocio and her family, they learned that she was the victim of domestic violence. Her husband was a U.S. citizen, but Rocio was undocumented, and therefore, stuck in a bad situation.  

From that moment Fred and Susan dedicated themselves to walking Rocio’s journey with her. They helped her secure her Green Card, assisted her with her finances, and even helped her rekindle her faith.  

“They have taught me everything I know,” said Rocio. “From how to be a mother and raise them and teach them and bring them up in a Catholic home. How to stay stable and how to learn how to manage your money.” 

Fred helped to repair the damage that Rocio’s now ex-husband did to their home. 

Rocio is now living a happy life with her new husband and her five children, and they have come to consider Fred and Susan family as they have walked with them every step of the way. 

“They’re like the parents that are teaching me the proper ways of life,” said Rocio. “But they’re also like mentors to my children and myself.” 

“Rocio’s like a daughter to me and her husband is like a son,” said Susan. “Over the years she has come a long way.” 

While she had accomplished so much thanks to the support she’d received from SVdP, there was still something that Rocio hoped for. She yearned to become a U.S. Citizen. The SVdP Council in Austin stepped in to help.  

The Council offered Rocio a Systemic Change grant to help offset the cost of the citizenship process. And Rocio went on to pass her Citizenship test on the first try! 

“Transformation is possible. It’s not easy. It’s a challenge, and it takes a lot of commitment, but it is absolutely possible,” said Joleen Boyer, a Vincentian with the SVdP Council in Austin.  

Rocio’s life was changed when Fred and Susan arrived on her doorstep. But Fred and Susan were forever changed as well.  

“They have become my family,” said Susan. “Even if I never did anything else I my life, I’ve saved seven souls. That’s pretty good.”  

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Contemplation — Just Prayer
Contemplation — Just Prayer 1080 1080 SVDP USA

“The needs were overwhelming,” the Home Visit team recalled, “And they were beyond what we could provide. So we just prayed.” Have you heard an account like this before? The emotions were high, the needs were great, there was nothing we could do, so…we just prayed.

It’s easy to feel as though we’ve let down the neighbor sometimes. We are the ones who return their calls. We are the ones who listen and understand. And we are the ones who, more often than not, are able to help with that overdue bill, or groceries, or rent, so when we can’t, or when the problem isn’t really a matter of material assistance, it can seem as if we’ve fallen short. Instead of offering our alms, we share in their suffering.

And we just pray.

Yet no matter the need, no matter the outcome of our Home Visit, we always pray. It isn’t an afterthought, or a rote exercise, or something we fall back on only when things seem hopeless! Our prayers are the most important thing we have to offer.

After all, why do we offer them for each other, or for our friends and family? Vincentians are people of “prayer and action.” [Rule, Part I, 3.3] Bl. Frédéric calls us to “do all the good we can and trust to God for the rest.” [Baunard, 81] However great or little our efforts or our material offerings, our work is never complete without prayer.

We always pray; we never just pray. The final balance between our action and our prayer is up to God alone. As St. Vincent reminds us, “God does not consider the outcome of the good work undertaken but the charity that accompanied it.” [CCD I:205]

In our prayers, we place the needs of the neighbors before God in order to assure them that they are not forgotten, that this, too, shall pass. We add our voices to theirs, knowing that God has placed us n the presence for this reason, that He, too, is present on our Home Visit, and that the hope we offer is not merely the hope of a light bill payment.

Pope Saint Gregory the Great taught that to give what is ours to the neighbor is charity; to give them what is theirs is justice. [P.R., Bk III] In this sense, at least, they are all just prayers.

Contemplate

If I approach each home visit as if I have only prayer to offer, how would I pray differently?

Recommended Reading

Praying with Vincent de Paul

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SVdP Provides Help on the Long Road to Recovery
SVdP Provides Help on the Long Road to Recovery 1024 662 SVDP USA

Desiree, a hardworking mom of twin boys, was devastated when her car and home were severely damaged by a flash flood in their hometown of Waverly, Tennessee.

In the aftermath of the storm, a local Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was there to help, along with rapid-response grants from the National Council and aid from the SVdP-USA Disaster Services Corporation (DSC).

SVdP volunteers sprang into action to provide the family with new beds, furniture, and other household necessities. The Society was also able to help many other survivors by providing funds that helped with food, transportation assistance, home repairs, mold removal, and other damages not covered by insurance or other organizations.

“I just started crying because I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Desiree recalls with gratitude. “It’s very helpful knowing that we’ll have some beds and things to sleep on once we get back into our house. I thank God for getting us out of there and for the help we’ve been shown from complete strangers.”

Tragically, 20 residents lost their lives in the deluge, including one Vincentian volunteer of the St. Patrick-McEwen Conference. Hundreds of homes and businesses were swept away.

Many weeks after those dark clouds departed, the SVdP “silver linings” continued to shine on families in crisis. Cindy Barnes, a Vincentian volunteer, helped provide handmade quilts to a dozen victims of the flood. “My hope is that we can all just show each other that we care, that it matters to us that they’re suffering, and that we want to do what we can to help them.”

Thank you for empowering the Society of St. Vincent de Paul with the resources we need to provide Vincentian volunteers with financial support, spiritual formation, education, and the training they need to assist our most vulnerable neighbors effectively.

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Bringing Help and Hope Through Disaster Assistance
Bringing Help and Hope Through Disaster Assistance 480 640 SVDP USA

Tornadoes. Floods. Hurricanes. Fires.

When a disaster strikes, you see neighbors pulling together to restore what was lost. But when entire communities are devastated, more help is needed.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is ready to step in at a moment’s notice to provide both rapid-response and long-term recovery grants. Working closely with the National Council subsidiary Disaster Services Corporation (DSC), parish Conferences and regional Councils, the National Council supports efforts ensuring that families in critical need of help are served not just for a few days or weeks following an event, but for however long it takes to get them back on their feet.

This kind of assistance goes beyond emergency food, water, furniture, and temporary housing. It is a
response of compassionate friendship, of journeying with, so that the long road back to self-sufficiency for those who are suffering is not a path walked alone.

During the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year, the National Council responded to 13 U.S. disaster recovery efforts with assistance totaling over $467,000.

Your generosity makes it possible. You enable the National Council to respond to requests for aid from SVdP volunteers who are the hands, the face, and the caring heart of Christ in times of crisis.

In 2022, DSC coordinated with FEMA and other organizations across the South and Midwest, helping prepare rapid response teams and finding locations for parish recovery centers to distribute supplies for tornado survivors.

The news coverage moved on long ago. But DSC and the National Council continue recovery work
in communities hit hard by disaster. We are often onsite many months after the disaster strikes to
assist in the rebuilding of homes, jobs, and lives.

The National Council provided more than $70,000 in rapid-response and long-term recovery grants
to local Vincentians working with DSC after Hurricane Ida. Funds were distributed as gift cards and hygiene kits to neighbors in need of living essentials including food and water, medications, baby formula, and diapers. Some funds assisted with funeral expenses.

Dave Brucker, SVdP Council President in Tyler, Texas, said, “I saw an army of local Vincentians volunteering at parish-based recovery centers — many full time over a couple of weeks, and many with their own damaged homes with which to contend. All so generous of their time. Disasters are never a good thing, but disasters can serve to bring out the best in people, and I was so happy to see this … God bless SVdP and DSC for facilitating the parish-based recovery centers, the volunteers, and the survivors facing significant challenges.”

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SVdP News Roundup April 29 – May 5
SVdP News Roundup April 29 – May 5 1080 1080 SVDP USA

With 100,000 Vincentians across the United States and nearly 800,000 around the world, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul provides person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering. Read some of their stories here:

INTERNATIONAL

NATIONAL

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A Week in Prayers May 1 — May 5
A Week in Prayers May 1 — May 5 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Monday, May 1

Open my heart, Lord Jesus,
Empty me of myself.
Take away all that worries me,
And all that troubles my mind.
Take away all of my triumphs,
And all victories of this world.
Empty me of myself, O Lord,
That You may live in me,
And I may live in You.
Amen

Tuesday, May 2

Heavenly Father,
Your love is like the dewfall,
Covering the earth like a blanket
During each night’s darkness,
And rising in the growing light
To be the very air I breathe.
On this path, O Lord,
May Your light guide me
And Your truth lead me,
As I seek to follow Your way.
Amen

Wednesday, May 3

In everything I do, O Lord,
In everything I say,
Let me be Your instrument.
Do not let my own hesitation,
Selfishness, or worry
Stand in the way of Your love
Shining forth through my smile
My manner,
And my actions.
Amen

Thursday, May 4

Lord, help me to bear wordless witness;
To proclaim Your truth by living my faith.
May my neighbor come to know You
Through my acts of mercy and love,
In the name of Your son Jesus Christ.
Amen

Friday, May 5

O my Jesus, forgive me.
In Your mercy, make me whole.
Measure out Your mercy,
As I have measured mine,
Knowing, as I do, that it is You
I serve in the neighbor.
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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SVdP Bremerton Supersizes Their Thrift Store
SVdP Bremerton Supersizes Their Thrift Store 2560 1707 SVDP USA

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Bremerton WA has proudly opened the doors to its new and improved thrift store.

With 27,000 square feet, 50% more than the previous store, new fixtures and mannequins donated by JC Penney, Silverdale and lots of unique treasures, the Conference has proudly named its newest iteration the St. Vincent de Paul Super Store.

Located in East Bremerton, Washington, the shop features a large selection of new and vintage jewelry, fabulous men’s and women’s clothing, and a robust inventory of furniture and household goods, all at very reasonable prices.

Said Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler, “This new location will continue to provide a helping hand and essential support to those who need it. Our city is stronger due to the work that St. Vincent de Paul and others do to help people in our region. No matter what the season, in the dead of winter or the heat of summer, those struggling or in need of assistance receive help and hope.”

In addition to providing goods to the community at affordable prices, the Super Store’s voucher program provides clothing, furniture and household items to those in need while providing a shopping experience that’s full of dignity and fun. For neighbors who might need an outfit for a job interview or court appearance, the Super Store will take care of them, no questions asked.

Last year, SVdP Bremerton provided 4,800 items worth $23,000 to the community. In addition, a Friends of the Poor Grant from SVdP National allowed the local Conference to give tents, sleeping bags, rain gear and blankets to those experiencing homelessness during the cold winter.

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