Annual Report 90 years of for 2014 ho 2014 Annuale Report in Dane County Spring 2015 Helping Our Neighbors In Need Society of St. Vincent de Paul – Madison Annual Report for 2014 Building hope here for 90 years Dear Friend, What you have in your hands represents a year of neighbors helping neighbors in Dane County. The statistics in this annual report reflect the lived experience of real people who, when suffering the effects of poverty, got a little help through the efforts of dedicated volunteers, the work of a great staff and, most importantly, the generosity of people like you. It may be hard to visualize all those who benefited from receiving more than $2.6 million in assistance from us last year. But I invite you to stretch your imagination even further to see the good the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has done during the 90 years it has been at work here in Madison. It was in 1925 that a group of concerned Madisonians invited members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul from Milwaukee to come and help them organize in two Catholic parishes, Holy Redeemer and St. Bernard. Since those early years, Madison has been blessed with many dedicated St. Vincent de Paul members, volunteers and supporters – now mostly forgotten – who were good friends of the poor. It was the president of the Society in Milwaukee, Val Blatz (of the beer-brewing family), who came to Madison to help us start a store just after the Great Depression. Mathias Karls was one of those dedicated early local members to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude. He owned a market on Williamson Street and was completely committed to the success of our thrift store from its beginning. Matt managed to talk the Milwaukee people into a $1,000 gift when we eventually purchased a storefront on Baldwin Street. That space is still part of what long ago became our Willy Street store. Hundreds of dedicated volunteers have provided us a rich history. We have had great leadership from presidents such as Franz Haas, who during the time he served was also Dane County sheriff. Many of us remember John Keyes, who founded our Port St. Vincent de Paul in 1977. Fondly called the “Mayor of the East Side,” John had a tremendous heart for the poor. When women were finally “allowed” to join the Society in the 1970s, Elizabeth Erbe was there, as were John Keyes’ sisters Alice and Shelly. Often the Society struggled just like the people we serve. Longtime member Norb Zeier recounted to me a day when the next week’s payroll was unfunded and members made personal loans just to pay store staff. These folks from our past couldn’t have imagined that St. Vincent de Paul- Madison would someday operate a charitable pharmacy, housing programs for men and women, a grocery-store-like food pantry and seven thrift stores. Unfortunately, poverty is not a thing of the past here. Needs may change, but it seems that they also continue to increase as our community grows. Our challenge is to keep a strong safety net in place to assist our neighbors when they find themselves struggling with poverty. Thank you for participating in our continuing effort to meet the needs of people today. Please continue to give us the support required for us to build on this local history of care and compassion for our neighbors in need. Thank you, Ralph Middlecamp, CEO & Executive Director 2033 Fish Hatchery Road • P.O. Box 259686 • Madison, WI 53725-9686 • www.svdpmadison.org 608.442.7200 • fax 608.442.7211 2 On the cover: Some snapshots from our 90 years of helping Dane County neighbors in need. See Page 4 for a key. Helping Our Neighbors In Need Building hope here for 90 years 2 0 1 4 Food $1,480,330 Clothing $236,512 Furniture & Bedding $232,634 Value of Financial Housing $210,363 Prescriptions $358,854 Utilities/Rent $81,895 Assistance Summary Other . $26,727 TOTAL $2,627,315 (Reflects fiscal 2014: October 2013 We Provided through September 2014) Auto Sales $19,102 Bequests $282,331 Financial Cash Donations $1,017,112 Grants $146,300 Housing Program Fees $159,409 w/o auto sales Support Net Store Income( & $ donations) $599,494 Other/Interest $18,695 We Received TOTAL $2,242,443 Income & Expense Service Center Housing Thrift Stores District Council TOTAL Income Donations–cash/bequests $961,937 $50,549 $9,264 $277,693 $1,299,443 Sales–thrift stores 0 0 7,411,932 0 7,411,932 Sales–vehicles 0 0 19,102 0 19,102 Program fees 0 159,409 0 0 159,409 Grants 116,300 30,000 0 0 146,300 Int., div., cap. gains, etc. 1,099 0 0 17,596 18,695 Total income $1,079,336 $239,958 $7,440,298 $295,289 $9,054,881 Expense Personnel $274,781 $262,632 $4,624,232 $561,926 $5,723,571 Facilities 76,516 85,202 849,643 101,409 1,112,770 Distribution 415,349 8,267 240,582 22,842 687,040 Administration 108,207 12,878 434,991 163,968 720,044 Total expense $874,853 $368,979 $6,149,448 $850,145 $8,243,425 Capital projects $10,298 $793 $662,990 $7,974 $682,055 Income less expense/capital $194,185 ($129,814) $627,860 ($562,830) $129,401 3 Society of St. Vincent de Paul – Madison Annual Report for 2014 A history of serving in hope ince 1925, members of the Society Depression. Money was scarce, jobs Our stores – seven across Dane County Sof St. Vincent de Paul in Madison, were few, and families were losing their today – still perform both of those func- Wis., have been offering direct, person- homes. The early (St. Vincent de Paul) tions. Through the decades, St. Vincent to-person help to their neighbors strug- members of Madison were themselves de Paul members have relied on those gling with poverty and other forms of to become victims of hard times.” stores, on generous financial donors and suffering. Beginning at two of the city’s Through efforts of early members mo- on themselves to create still other works Catholic parishes 90 years ago, the local tivated to offer neighbors in need what of charity to build hope among local peo- work of our international Society had help they could, a Madison thrift store ple in need. From a major food pantry its roots in neighbors organizing to help was opened in 1941. The store supplied and service center to a charitable phar- their neighbors in need. revenue to support the Society’s chari- macy, from housing programs to goods In an account he wrote years ago, late table-aid mission through sale of donat- storage for persons who are homeless, local member Norbert Zeier offered a ed goods, and it also allowed members programs rooted in our history of hope feel for the Society’s hope-filled begin- to give goods directly to people in need. are touched on in the pages that follow. ning efforts here in Madison: 1 3 “In those early days one requirement of the meeting (of local Society mem- 2 bers) called for a report from the ‘keeper of the clothes room.’ Clothing and other donations were stored in homes or par- ish storerooms. As these supplies ex- panded and membership grew, it was 4 agreed that a central building was need- 7 ed. This was 1936 in the depth of the 5 6 From the cover: 1) Mathias Karls presiding over his meat market at 1216 Williamson St.; Elected second SVdP Madison President in 1939, Matt managed our “Salvage Bureau” for years. 2) In the late 1970s, John Keyes, Port St. Vincent founder and an inspiration to many, getting a hug from his dog, Oso. 3) Our first store location in Madison, 309 S. Baldwin St., as it appeared shortly after it opened in 1941; that space today (pictured in the left-hand column) is still part of what long ago became our Williamson Street store. 4) The ruins of our Processing Center and offices, which burned in 1995, about a year after opening; we soon rebuilt on the site. 5) At the corner of Williamson and Baldwin streets, the bustling entrance to what was Dane County’s busiest food pantry – all 800 square feet of it; the pantry moved from this site in 2005. 6) At a national gathering of Vincentians in 1993, (from left) Pat LaMasney and spouse, Roger, then SVdP Madison Diocesan Council President, joined by son Gary and SVdP Madison staff members Ruth Lalley, Alice Seelow & Ralph Middlecamp. 7) A 1940s poster seeking, as we still do, goods donations to support our mission (see Page 10 for a closer look). 1925: Formation of 1st two Madison member groups (conferences), 1934: Organization of 1937: 3rd Madison conference at St. Bernard & Holy Redeemer parishes (pictured above) “Particular Council of Madison” formed, at Blessed Sacrament Parish 1939: Reorganization 1925: Pairs of conference members begin conducting home visits with people in need of Particular Council of Madison 1925 1930 1935 1940 4 Helping Our Neighbors In Need A history of serving in hope Food and much more food aid among local households experi- Our pantry serves 60 to 160 house- encing the impacts of recession. As the holds per day five days a week. Six days charts below show, creation of this large per week, our center offers hours for a n 2005 we moved what had been facility dramatically expanded the value range of other aid we provide, as the IDane County’s busiest food pantry of the help we’ve been able to deliver.