The following “case study” illustrates a client situation we may encounter during a home visit. While it is representative, it is not typical as no two cases are alike.  SD-SVDP honors the confidentiality and dignity of its clients. Thus, what follows is not associated with any particular client, current or former.

It is April and the last vestiges of winter are slowly fading. That is good news and bad news for Jean, a single mother of 3 school-aged children. Her heating needs are declining and she no longer has to dress her kids in warm winter clothes. But with April comes the end of WE Energies moratorium on disconnecting energy service. She has received the inevitable disconnect notice from WE Energies. Moving between jobs this past winter, Jean has put her money toward food, clothing, and shelter. Her WE Energy bill swelled to over $3,000. She calls SVDP a week before her energy will be disconnected. During our home visit, Jean presents herself as a proud self-reliant person struggling to “get it right.” Like us, she is a person who has made some good and some bad choices in the past. Unlike us, her bad choices have left deep scars. There are too many to discuss during one visit. But that is not our purpose. We are there to learn enough about her situation to determine if and how we can help and about whatever else she is willing to share.

The thoughts of paying her energy bill pale in comparison to the fear she feels for her children. She needs to be there for them but it is becoming increasingly difficult. Between her jobs and them growing up, she feels them slipping away. She no longer takes drugs. The  Women’s Center has helped her in the past. She has a few friends but she feels isolated. As Vincentians, we listen. Afterwards, we discuss Jean’s situation during a SDSVDP meeting. We decide to provide the initial payment to WE Energies to enter her into its “debt forgiveness” program. From our home visit we determine she is able to pay the monthly budget amount to remain in the program  over the next twelve months. Also, we will deliver food from the St. Dominic’s Food Pantry once a month for the next six months. We talk with Jean and send a letter summarizing our understanding of her situation and what help we are able to provide. We note how she might help herself and other options she may have. We encourage joining a church community to help with her kids and feelings of isolation. We affirm our belief in her ability and will stay in contact with her over the coming months.

Jean’s problems are far from “solved” but hopefully through our efforts and the generosity of St. Dominic parishioners, her burden is lessened, she feels less isolated and more a part of God’s greater family.

Food Pantry Operations And Delivery

St. Dominic started the Food Pantry over 25 ago. Its ability to serve the needy is based on the generous contributions of our parish members and various organizations such as the scouts and St. Dominic School that run food drives at various times throughout the year.

The parish operates the Food Pantry under the blanket of Human Concerns, although it works closely with SD-SVDP. SD-SVDP screens and selects clients and implements the monthly delivery program. On a monthly basis, the Food Pantry delivers to roughly a dozen SD-SVDP client families serving approximately 60 people. The Food Pantry provides food to anyone in need and does so on a confidential basis. The food delivery includes items such as cereals, soups, bread, deserts, fresh meat, and produce. Most clients come to us via referrals from the Waukesha council of SVDP. Clients are interviewed by SD-SVDP Vincentians. Client food needs are determined and if they able to pick-up food, they are referred to the Waukesha Food Pantry (WFP). If they are unable to pick-up food, they are added to the Food Pantry’s monthly food delivery. The duration of our delivery program to clients is determined based upon their need and their ability to support themselves.

During this past year, the Food Pantry entered into an alliance with the WFP to better serve our clients. As a result of this special alliance, clients can visit the WFP to obtain food three times per month (as opposed to only receiving one food delivery from us per month). For our part, we provide the WFP with any excess food we may have during the year. We have always supported other food pantries with our excess food in the past to avoid spoilage. This alliance simply directs all of our excess to the WFP. This alliance will increase our ability to service people in need. In the past, the number of clients we could serve was limited by the number of food deliveries we could make in a month. Now we are able to direct a portion of our clients to the WFP.

Emergency Assistance

Things happen. A car breaks down. No shelters are available on a winter’s night. While the home visit is central to SVDP’s mission of providing assistance to people in need, at times a home visit is not possible. Sometimes a situation requires immediate attention and no other aid agency is available. We respond best as we can.  Emergency requests typically come through the St. Dominic Parish Center Office or from the Waukesha SVDP Council Office. We respond by listening to the request and doing whatever follow-up we can without jeopardizing the situation.

Many times people in these situations are not thinking or speaking clearly. There may be mental health issues involved. Sometimes people feel desperate and they do not tell the whole truth. We do what we can to determine what the truth might be. While we try to verify stories and “see through the fog,” many times the picture that remains is blurry. After evaluating the situation we generally lean toward giving people the “benefit of doubt.” We would rather help a person inappropriately than to turn down a legitimate request.

A call is received at 4:00 PM on a late January afternoon from the Waukesha council office. The office is short staffed and they want someone to follow up with a woman and her two teenage sons who have no housing for the night. As typical of the January forecast in Wisconsin, it is expected to be clear and very cold overnight.  A St. Dominic Vincentian contacts her. She states that she was evicted from a nearby shelter due to the actions of her two sons. She has no where to go. She is frustrated and angry with her sons. She has to take time off from work to get their situation taken care of. She might lose her job. All of the local shelters are full. She has little money.

The Vincentian contacts the shelter that evicted her. They support the woman’s story. They had no choice but to evict her and her sons for the safety of the other residents. They add that the woman knew of the eviction action well in advance. She had time to locate alternative housing. But she didn’t plan ahead and by this time it’s 8:00 PM and all of the local shelters are full.  The Vincentian discusses the woman’s situation at length with other Vincentians. A decision is reached to check her into a local motel and provide some food. We believe this will provide a place to think things through, address issues with her sons, and some time to find other housing. By 11:00 PM the woman and her sons are safe and warm.

As Vincentians, we are not a social service agency, we are not equipped to handle a large number of emergencies, our preferred approach is the home visit, but we are there to help if appropriate and within our abilities.

Society Finances – FY 2007 and FY 2008 Plans

Finances are a fact of life for any organization. While the past is no guarantee of the future, a look at SD-SVDP’s FY07 (ending 9/30/07) finances may serve to communicate FY08 plans. We feel it is important for you to know where it all goes!

SD-SVDP derives almost 100% of its operating funds from the generous donations of the parish and Vincentians. Approximately 90% of its expenditures serve the needy in Waukesha County. FY07 revenues were $18,500 and expenditures were $18,100.  Through the works of SD-SVDP Vincentians, we distributed $6,400 (35% of total expenses) in aid to SD-SVDP client families (i.e., families where we have performed a home visit to determine need). Much of this aid is for rent and utilities. 

An additional $4,000 (22%) was donated to Waukesha SVDP Council’s Needy Fund. The Needy Fund allows Vincentians from other Waukesha parishes whose demand for assistance outweighs their parish’s ability to provide monetary aid to service the needy in their area. Both SD-SVDP Vincentian distributions and contributions to the Needy Fund are viewed as highest priority relative to our mission.

With the recent growth in SD-SVDP membership and a new arrangement with St. Joseph of Waukesha, we expect more to be given directly by SD-SVDP Vincentians and less to the Needy Fund in FY08. The new arrangement with St. Joe’s requires SD-SVDP to directly serve 5 new families a month in their area. St. Joe’s is in a very distressed area and while their SVDP conference is gaining strength, it lacks the ability to handle its demand. St. John Vianney SVDP will be assisting St. Joe’s similarly.

SD-SVDP provided $1,800 (10%) for the local jail ministry, $300 (2%) for the St. Mathias meal program, and $300 (2%) for Christmas gifts to needy children in FY07.  The jail ministry provides one-on-one ministry of prisoners with the funds we provided mainly going to help prisoners upon release. While these programs are all important, they are viewed as secondary to our mission and would be reduced should we have greater client need. At this time, we expect these amounts to remain unchanged in FY08.

We also provided $3,500 (19%) to help fund a SVDP thrift store that will replace the current one located on Main St. in Waukesha. The Main St. store is in a redevelopment area and will have to move within the next 5 years. This store provides a much needed service to the area and its “profits” are used to support community outreach programs (e.g., direct assistance, summer lunches, back-to-school, etc.). These funds were collected from the generous support of the parish as a result of appeals in pulpit announcements . We expect to contribute $4,000 through parish appeals and a slightly smaller amount directly from SD Vincentians in FY08.

SD-SVDP provided $1,500 (8%) to Foreign Twinning (a program similar to the local Needy Fund) in FY07. Of this, $500 was a donation earmarked for this purpose. Our foreign “twin” is the Holy Trinity Chapel SVDP conference in Santiago, Chile. These funds are used mainly for food and medical services in their area. We plan on continuing support at this level in FY08 provided we are able to serve our Waukesha clients.

Lastly, $300 (2%) went to our national and archdiocese dues and operating expenses of our conference. With over two-thirds of this amount going to dues, we expect a similar amount in FY08.