The Mission of the Foundation
For the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Detroit
Responding Continually to St. Vincent’s Challenge
Following the highly successful Capital Campaign to build the present Van Elslander Community Center, the Society of St. Vincent DePaul in Detroit is now challenged to increase its efforts directly with and on behalf of the poor in our community.
In the spirit of the Rule of our Society we are to work for systemic changes that afford increasing measures of independence for the poor, and to engage actively in advocacy for the rights and well-being of the poor. Serving the needs of the poor takes two forms: direct service and advocacy; these were recognized by Blessed Frederic Ozanam more than 200 years ago when he and five others founded the Society of St. Vincent DePaul.
Today, our local Conferences concern themselves with daily and weekly service to the poor, and this is financed by the collections they raise at the local parish level. But our work cannot stop there. The Society constantly strives for renewal, adapting to changing world conditions. Our mandate from Blessed Frederic Ozanam is to be ever aware of the changes that occur in human society and the new types of poverty that may be identified or anticipated. It asks us to give priority to the poorest of the poor and to those who are most rejected by society.
In this spirit, as we seek to follow the Society’s strategic plan and participate in the achieving its strategic objectives, we here in Detroit must communicate with our wider community and the world on unprecedented levels. We must enhance and enlarge our collaboration with other organizations so that together we can work systemically to advocate for the poor and relieve their need throughout our southeast Michigan society.
History Creates Necessity
At the same time, the situation in our American society has created a social service marketplace with unprecedented challenges in it. As the needs of the poor increase, and as we know more about how to successfully and systemically serve their needs, government funding at all levels has declined precipitously while the number of nonprofit organizations attempting to serve the poor has doubled. So we have a crowded marketplace, substantially increased need, but increasing fewer dollars with which to meet the need.
As has historically been the case, both in this county and around the world, when government cannot respond to needs, voluntary nonprofit associations pick up the challenge and find ways to provide what is needed. In this case, the Society of St. Vincent DePaul is again in the right place to serve.