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SVdP News Roundup May 13 – Mary 19
SVdP News Roundup May 13 – Mary 19 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

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A Week in Prayers May 15 – May 19
A Week in Prayers May 15 – May 19 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Monday, May 15

Your blessings, Lord,
Are right before my eyes,
As if silhouetted
In golden rays on the horizon
In the sun’s setting or its rising.
Help me to see all your children
Whether hidden in shadows,
Or shabby clothes,
Or behind unwelcoming faces,
Throughout the busy day,
In that same brilliant light.
Amen

Tuesday, May 16

Lord help me fulfill Your plan.
Because there is hunger,
May I feed the hungry;
Because there is thirst,
Lead me to water;
Because there is suffering,
Teach me to comfort;
Because of Your justice,
Help me serve.
Amen

Wednesday, May 17

You carry me, Lord, on the pathway
When I am too tired to walk.
You hear me, O Lord, in my weakness,
When I am too weary to talk.
You lift me, O Lord, when I’ve fallen,
You heal me, Lord, with Your touch.
On this journey, O Lord, You are with me,
And my burdens are never too much.
Amen

Thursday, May 18

Help me to see Your face, O Lord,
So that I do not turn away,
Or presume to cast my judgment
Upon You.

Help me to see Your needs, O Lord,
So that I break out of my comfort
And shed my second coat
For You.
Amen

Friday, May 19

Lead me, O Lord, to charity,
So your love becomes all I desire
To share from a heart overflowing
Like the song of a heavenly choir.

Lord, play me the music of heaven
In the angels’ harmonious notes.
Lead me, O Lord, then to justice,
For I am the one with two coats.
Amen

Daily Prayers are written by Tim Williams, National Vincentian Formation Director.
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Disaster Services Corporation Launches Kare Wallet at VOAD Conference
Disaster Services Corporation Launches Kare Wallet at VOAD Conference 2420 1816 SVDP USA

Recently, SVdP’s Disaster Services Corporation attended the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) Conference held in St. Louis. DSC had an exhibitor booth at the event where they were able to engage with the more than 800 attendees, and network with other organizations that work with those affected by disasters, including FEMA and DHS.

During the Conference, VOAD held elections for the their board and national committee. Elizabeth Disco-Shearer, SVdP DSC CEO, was re-elected as the Board Chairperson. Kevin Peach, SVdP DSC COO, was elected as Chairperson of the Advocacy Committee. Anthony Pluchino, SVdP DSC CPO, was elected as Chairperson of the Disaster Case Management Committee. In their work as members of the VOAD Board and various committees, these roles ensure that SVdP DSC is working collaboratively to provide disaster relief to those in need.

At the Conference, the Kare Wallet was unveiled. This is a collaborative effort between DSC, Algorland, AID:Tech, and Amazon Business. It introduces an innovative solution to streamline aid distribution to disaster survivors, saving both time and money. This partnership is vital to the success of this technology, as it has the potential to make a tangible difference in assisting those in need. Kevin Peach, the COO of the Disaster Services Corporation, SVDP-USA, represented the organization on a panel of partners from all the organizatiosn involved in producine the Kare Wallet where they explained the transformative impact the technology will have on the delivery of disaster assistance.

The Kare Wallet launch marks a significant achievement for DSC and its partners. We extend our gratitude to everyone involved in making this innovation possible. The Kare Wallet has the potential to revolutionize the way aid is distributed during disasters, and we are excited about the positive impact it will have on helping those in need.

Please visit www.svdpdisaster.org to learn more about how you can support our mission.

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05-18-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
05-18-2023 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 900 900 SVDP USA

Years ago I bought some original comic book production pages of black ink on card paper, because I enjoyed the comics featuring Conan the Barbarian and other heroes as a young adult. I had them framed, kept them out of direct sunlight and otherwise protected my whopping investment of about 30 bucks a page. As I recall, the frames cost more than the art!

When I started reading comic books, they cost 12 cents. The books today start at $3.99 and may be $5.99 or more. Most aren’t even designed anymore for kids. A lot has changed in 50 years! If I had continued to read those comics for all this time, I would have spent thousands of dollars – and Batman would still be chasing the Joker. Superman and Lois Lane will still be together (they did finally get married), and Thor would still need a haircut.  The stories were never meant to end, but rather to keep me reading and spending my money.

I’m wondering if it’s the same with poverty.

It seems we can’t end poverty by spending more on it.  With the billions of aid from government and charities in the United States alone, the number of poor people remain stubbornly about the same. They are considered to be relatively better off than 50 years ago, but millions are still under the poverty line.

As Vincentians we remain hopeful, and we keep giving resources to our neighbors in need as we help one family at a time. The frustration we share privately is that some people we help need to return to us again and again, whether it be for rent assistance or food pantry support. We smile but it can break our hearts, and we wonder if we truly make a difference. We do of course, but perhaps to create lasting change we need to provide more lasting support. As the Society we can invest in building our capacity to serve, or keep spending on treadmill practices that move a lot but never really get anywhere.

Some Councils and Conferences have invested charitable dollars into systemic change solutions, designed to help families get out of that food pantry line once and for all. This strategy can be expensive when considered on a cost per person basis, but with a longer view of real impact the investment is a good one. Our Bridges Out of Poverty classes, Back2Work, and other employment programs, IMMERSION, and other reentry services, predatory loan aversion strategies, and financial literacy education, and so many other local creative programs, work closely and over time with one person or family. Yet that family has a much better chance of succeeding, not just now but generationally. That’s true impact.

Considering inflation and the cost of living, and our Society’s financial resources which also are affected by the same forces, systemic change makes sense. This does not, and never will, mean that we should abandon our signature Home Visit programs. People need help today, and that can’t be ignored. Allow me to offer two blended strategies for your local consideration.

One, keep Conferences focused on immediate help while designing Council programs for systemic change. Some of those who come for urgent needs can be recruited into the lasting solution resources, and Conferences can financially support the more regional, often more expensive, programs.

Two, re-think how we spend our precious local financial resources. Just as individuals spend some wages on today’s needs while putting some aside for retirement and education, consider splitting Conference resources (at whatever percentage you determine) into separate immediate and systemic change budgets. Strike a balanced approach between immediate and long-term solutions.

There are two notable exceptions to these strategies. First, sometimes a community is hit with a disaster such as a storm or a refugee crisis. These all-hands-on-deck times require urgency in both time and dollars. Second, we do not hoard funds for rainy days. It is raining right now for our neighbors! Saving to start a major program, however, is not hoarding.

While I am hardly a financial genius, I saved all those childhood comics and sold them to invest in a year of my college tuition. The original art pages I bought for a few bucks apiece are now up for auction and expected to sell for a return of several thousand percent! Our beloved Society likewise can benefit now as well as later, if we create plans and budgets over longer time horizons and keep long-range goals in our minds and prayers.

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

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Contemplation — The Grace of God
Contemplation — The Grace of God 1080 1080 SVDP USA

“There but for the grace of God go I.” We tend to share this idiom most often when a peer, a friend, or a colleague suffers a misfortune – somebody whose shoes we imagine to be pretty close to our own size, familiar characters who have made the same mistakes we’ve made. Yet it captures both the empathy that is expected of Vincentian home visitors, and the unmerited nature of God’s grace.

Our Rule says that we refrain from judging the neighbor because we are always aware of our own weakness, and that we “seek to understand them as [we] would a brother or sister.” [Rule, Part I, 1.9] That isn’t always easy when the neighbor comes from a very different background than we do; when we don’t quite feel like we can relate; when their mistakes are different than ours.

It becomes easy, at times, to feel as if we truly know better because we haven’t allowed ourselves to make the mistakes we perceive in the neighbor’s story. We sometimes struggle to remind ourselves to, as Bl. Rosalie put it, “love those who are poor, don’t blame them too much. The world says, ‘It’s their fault… If we had suffered as they have… we would be far from their equal.” [Sullivan, 211]

The neighbors that call us often have no place else to turn for help; theirs are calls of desperation. Have they made unforced choices that led them to this? Oftentimes, yes. But just as paramedics don’t pause to figure out who caused the accident before working to treat the wounds, Vincentians don’t, as Bl. Frédéric once put it, “render the suffering classes responsible for their misery” nor ”fancy themselves exonerated from helping the poor man when they have proved his wrong-doing…” [O’Meara, 324]

“There but for the grace of God go I.”

God’s grace is “the free and undeserved help that God gives us.” [CCC, 1996] Undeserved. We, also, are undeserving, just like “The Undeserving Poor” in Bishop Untener’s essay. [SiH IV] Maybe this can help remind us that putting ourselves in the neighbor’s place means sharing their suffering, not imagining how we’d have made better choices.

Yet, it is also we who are called to be God’s hands, His eyes, His ears, and His loving heart; to love the neighbor as ourselves for the love of God; to serve for love alone. We go to the poor not to judge them but to serve them as the embodiment of Christ, exactly as he taught us. We go in simplicity, humility, gentleness, selflessness, and zeal in witness to our Vincentian charism.

And a charism, our church teaches us, is a very special grace from God. [CCC, 2003] So, while it may be the grace of God that saved us from the neighbors’ circumstances, it is at least equally the grace of God that sends us to sit with them, listen to them, pray with them, and love them – unconditionally.

Contemplate

Do I always put myself in the neighbor’s place first?

Recommended Reading

Serving in Hope, Module IV (especially “The Undeserving Poor”)

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SVdP News Roundup May 6 — May 12
SVdP News Roundup May 6 — May 12 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 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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