Vision 2015

On January 8^th, The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in the Archdiocese of Detroit will roll out its Vision 2015 Strategic Plan to its members.  The need for a Strategic plan to guide the Society are several; The Economic Crisis in Southeast Michigan, Changes in our parishes to meet the needs of a changing demographic, improved delivery of services to our clients, just to name a few.  A team of Vincentians from throughout the diocese worked diligently for over six months to come up with a vision of how St. Vincent de Paul will respond to the challenges mentioned above. The goals of Vision 2015 are; 1.) To grow and strengthen Conferences.  2.) To improve communication at all levels.  3.) To improve service to our Clients. 4.) Increase Conference revenue. 5.) To improve and enhance programs for Conferences.

Getting people to work together to solve the problems of poverty in France during the 15^th Century was the paramount strength of our Patron, Vincent de Paul. Beginning with a meeting, his organizational reflexes came to the fore, and each new “Charity” was a masterpiece of structure. From Vincent’s perspective, experience showed that an even greater efficiency developed from work done as a team with precision and methodically. Responding to his initial intuition, Vincent reflects; “Because, however it is to be feared that this good work, once begun, might die out in a short time if they do not have some union and spiritual bond among themselves to maintain it, they have arranged to form an association that can be set up as a confraternity”. This fundamental statement can be found in all the organizations Vincent founded. Our Vision 2015 plan also derives inspiration from this statement.  You will be hearing more of our Goals and Objectives throughout the coming year and how our members are responding to current challenges of poverty and futures challenges.

Every child deserves a new coat

 ”If the poor would only get out and find work, they would not be poor!” This common misconception pacifies the conscience of many people. Instead, Jesus says that we shouldn’t let people suffer; we must reach out to them. He is neither suggesting  that we respond nor  us to; he is demanding that we do. In Matthew’s gospel, Chapter 25 vs. 31-46, Jesus  states quite clearly that we will be judged by God as to how well we care for those who are disadvantaged. This past summer the Michigan Legislature did away with a little known benefit for children. The State used to offer a $75.00 clothing allowance to children who live in poverty. $75.00 in this day and age does not buy a lot of clothing. But it made a difference in whether a child was warm or not during cold Michigan winters. St. Vincent dePaul is taking up where the State left off. We want every child to have a warm coat this winter. That is why we are holding our “Bundle Up Michigan Coat Drive”.  Corporations such as Office Express, Polk Inc and Flame Furnace have stepped up to assist St. Vincent de Paul to fill the gap created when the legislature eliminated the $75.00 clothing allowance for children who live in poverty.  I am sure we all remember growing up and trying on last winter’s coat and finding that it no longer fit.  How many children this winter will find themselves in that same predicament? Won’t you help. If you have children who have grown out of their last winter’s coat and you have already bought them a new one, please consider donating the old ones. If you would like to donate new coats or make a cash donation for new coats, you may do that as well. In doing so we heed the command of Jesus to reach out to those who are in need.

What it’s like to live in Poverty

For those living in poverty, their definition of being poor might be: “I don’t think I can make it thru today.”  For the working poor, the definition of being poor might be:  “I have today covered, but I don’t know about tomorrow.”  Many of our neighbors are living in poverty. Not generational poverty, but situational poverty. They might have lost their job or may be retired and all their life savings have dried up and have only Social Security to fall back on.  When you live in poverty, all you can think of is getting thru today. You don’t have time to plan when you are going to take a vacation even if you had money to take one. You don’t have time to help your child think about what school they should attend or discuss with them what they want to be when they grow up.   Let me give you an example; We who live  in the middle class have auto insurance and if our car breaks down we can call AAA. They come and pick up our car and tow it and we have the resources to get it fixed. For those who live in poverty, you don’t call AAA- you call Uncle Ray. Uncle Ray has fixed your car many times in the past. You don’t have any money to pay Uncle Ray, so you have to agree to babysit his children in exchange for getting your car repaired. Also, now that your car is broken, how are you going to get to the part-time waitress job? You have been late several times in the past….  Or the babysitter didn’t show up; or you just had a judgment against you for not paying back the payday lender and you had no money for gas to get to work. Or your baby gets sick and you went to the emergency room last night and waited for hours in the middle of the night to have someone see your child. These are a few examples of what happens when you live in poverty.  Those who live in poverty face the “Tyranny of the Moment” everyday.  We know government needs to cut services. This only adds to the tyranny of the moment. We need to continue to help with emergency needs like food , clothing or help with utilities while at the same time having a dialogue within our communities on how to help those living in poverty work their way out of it.

SVdP partners with Office Express and Fl

SVdP partners with Office Express and Flame Heating for a coat drive 10/17 thru 12/31 visit http://www.moreforthepoor.org for details….

80,000 in danger of having their utilities shut off

With the recent turn to cooler weather, we know that much colder temperatures are not far away.  With that knowledge in mind, our thoughts turn to those who will not be able to afford their utility bills this coming heating season.  As a matter of fact nearly 80,000 of our neighbors are in jeopardy of having their home heating shut off because of a recent court decision that prevents agencies like St. Vincent de Paul from receiving funds from the State of Michigan to assist people with their utility bills.  A mix of federal grants and assessments to utility companies to assist low-income individuals with paying their utility bills is tied up because a group of high utility use companies filed and won a lawsuit to prevent the State of Michigan from collecting nearly $90 million dollars in tariffs to assist low-income individuals.  An appeal has been filed, however in the meantime as winter approaches, many of our neighbors utilities will be shut off because they are unable to pay their bills.  High unemployment and lack of steady income have forced many of our neighbors to be behind in their utility payments over the last few months.  Last year the Society provided over $800,000 in utility assistance to over 1000 of our neighbors in need.  This year, St. Vincent de Paul anticipates that number to rise to nearly $1miilion in utility assistance.  The money for this coming heating season has already been collected by the utility companies, however, because of the lawsuit they are prevented from turning the money over to the state.  A short-term fix is being worked on in the legislature which will free up these funds and allow St. Vincent de Paul to get these dollars in the hands of our neighbors to prevent their utilities from being shut off.  Once the legislation is introduced, we will encourage all our members to ask their State legislators to support the legislation.  In the meantime, when your furnace comes on, and you feel the warm air coming up from the register, remember and pray for those whose furnaces may not be coming on and are going without heat this winter season.  Please visit www.MoreForThePoor.org to make an online donation.

More in Michigan living in Poverty

You probably have seen or heard the news from  the latest census where  nearly 15% of our neighbors in Michigan are living in poverty! That is up from under 10% 10 years ago. Poverty is defined as a family of 4 with household income of about $22,000. In addition, there are many more who are on the verge of falling into poverty. Unemployment benefits are rulnning out for many of our neighbors. People and organizations who track this information say that the future is very bleak with even more falling below the poverty line in the next few years. As part of it Strategic Plan, SVdP Detroit has set a very ambitious goal to respond to these sobering statistics. Our goal is to have 100% coverage of services in every zip code from Monroe to Port Huron! In order to accomplish this our number one priority is to recruit and train volunteers to help us help our neighbors who fall below the poverty line.  We will be kicking off our strategic plan at a Town Hall  meeting called Vision 2015 on Novermber 6th. For more details see our website at svdpdet.org.

Each day more and more people need our h

Each day more and more people need our help. Please support our efforts by participating in our Walk for the Poor or by donating. http://ow.ly/6mFfW