Common Ground: Where help and hope connect by St. Vincent de Paul

COMMON GROUND Where help and hope connect.

Whether you need help or whether you can offer help, there is St. Vincent de Paul. It is the place where we all come together on the common ground of humanity, dignity, compassion, and God’s love.

St. Vincent de Paul is for all of us. For all Arizonans. For anyone who believes in the dignity and goodness of Friday night pizzas and Monday morning mercy. For anyone who wants to serve and anyone who needs services. For people who need a place to call home—whether for body or spirit.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

· Increased workforce readiness opportunities and social work services.

· Expanded opportunities for service work and service learning.

· Increased access to wellness care and resources for pets of the homeless.

For more than 75 years, St. Vincent de Paul has carried out two very important works. First, we serve people who need a little help. Second, we provide opportunities for others to be of service. In this way, St. Vincent de Paul creates common ground in Arizona. And we’re finding there is much more to do, more ground to cover—and to offer. There is tremendous need in our community. Arizonans need basic services related to housing, health care, job readiness, and social services. And Arizonans also need a place to serve, to find joy and to cultivate human connection. As a community, we are at an inflection point. We must ask ourselves—how will history consider us and the role that we play in caring for each other? What kind of community do we want to create for our children and our children’s children? We not only have a decision to make but action to take. With your partnership, St. Vincent de Paul will continue to lead in creating a better community today and for generations to come by pursuing some of the most significant opportunities we see:

· An enhanced, inspiring campus that better connects and serves its residents and visitors.

· Newly formed partnerships to address public health.

· A plan for the long-term financial sustainability of our work together. We find great motivation and strength in knowing we are not doing this alone. We are doing this with our entire community, all of you. This is the campaign for all of us.

· Additional housing for our most vulnerable populations.

As our community has grown, many services related to care for our neighbors have not been able to keep pace. Government bodies, public safety departments, other nonprofits, and community leaders have increasingly turned to St. Vincent de Paul for crisis intervention and solutions.

We are proud to say that, with your help, we have risen to the occasion—we have provided day relief for families seeking asylum; offered emergency heat relief shelter that cares for 200 individuals each night; expanded our provision of rent and utility assistance for families facing eviction; and increased traditional services, like access to health care for the uninsured and holistic case management. These challenges are not going away. And St. Vincent de Paul will continue to be called upon to serve in our most trying times. Our ability to rise to the occasion is entirely dependent on community generosity, the capacity of our campus facilities, our partnerships, and our collective ability to come together to care for one another at greater scale.

THE HELP NEEDED 2

More people than ever need a dignified place to call home. We have a record number of people experiencing homelessness in our community. And we continue to break records with the growing number of families facing eviction.

The alarming statistics on homelessness demonstrate that older adults—who account for about 35 percent of the Valley’s 5,000+ unsheltered population—are becoming homeless at higher rates, and those with disabilities are often left with the fewest resources.

The economic pressure we currently face is compounding these challenges, which is why we need to expand the holistic services that have been so critical to the success of the people we serve.

We need sustainablehealthy,intohelpingwhilewhenthattransitionalmorehousingcaresforpeopletheyneeditmost,simultaneouslyre-launchthemourcommunityascontributing,neighbors.

In a time of overwhelming isolation and disconnection, we are answering a crucial need to be a gathering place of abundant positivity, hope, and purpose. We invite people to join us in our mission and on our campus, because they want to have an active role in caring for their neighbors. Through that work, we help people find renewed meaning and purpose as members of a greater, kinder, more loving community for all.

More than ever, people seek out St. Vincent de Paul as a space for connection to humanity and hope—a place where they experience the joy of community and share in the impact of changing lives through service work.

In this invitation to others, we tackle several growing problems in our community—social isolation, lack of meaning, and decreased human connection—providing all people with an opportunity to find their own joy, hope, and purpose in our work together.

THE HOPE NEEDED 4

What faces our community today is not a lack of resources or ability or compassion or love. What faces our community today is a lack of common ground.

With your partnership, we will increase our services, expand our campus, and invite all to join us. With your partnership, we will establish the space where people who need help and people who can offer help will come together and thrive. With your partnership, we will offer a home for all of us that will be a legacy of kindness, care, and compassion for generations to come.

An expanded and reimagined campus creates the feeling of a true community, a place where you come and stay awhile.ALLAPLACEFOROFUS 6

Intensemeasure,doeslovenotitjustgives. – Mother Teresa 9

An expanded and reimagined campus creates the feeling of a true community, a place where you come and stay awhile.ALLAPLACEFOROFUS 6

7 8

The Common Ground Campaign looks toward the future, too. Campus improvements add to the communal experience, while further land acquisition, planning, and long-term financial sustainability allow St. Vincent de Paul the opportunity to nimbly address our community’s next challenges.

The Center for Volunteerism and Community Engagement establishes a formal home for St. Vincent de Paul’s 15,000 annual volunteers—and our community’s new home for civic leadership training, volunteer engagement, and service education.

Ozanam Manor II establishes the next phase of St. Vincent de Paul’s transitional housing effort to support older adults, veterans, and our neighbors with disabilities.

· Provide 100 beds, dedicated to our most vulnerable neighbors: homeless veterans, older adults, and persons with disabilities.

· Grow SVdP’s Work Opportunity Programs to engage men and women in developing work and life skills that will help them establish and maintain housing.

· Operate a 3,000 sq. ft. veterinary clinic and companion animal boarding area to engage homeless men and women whose pet has made it difficult for them to access help.

Ozanam Manor II, or Oz II, won’t be just a building with beds, but a full program dedicated to helping residents feel safe and supported—one that offers the right services at the right time, with a focus on resilience to address each person’s unique needs as they transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency and permanent housing. Oz II will follow SVdP’s original Ozanam Manor model, which has demonstrated success over the last four decades.

· Build 50,000 sq. ft. of new construction, informed by the successes of the original Oz building (completed in 2018).

· Engage men and women who have been reluctant to access services by removing barriers.

OZANAM MANOR II

· Offer furnished apartments to support short-term (1–7 days), emergency housing needs, which are prevalent in our community.

· Expand case management program for successful transitions (94% of residents who successfully transition out of Ozanam Manor do not return to homelessness services in the following 6 months).

It was the first time Michelle lived on her own, which meant freedom to decorate however she pleased. One of those decorations included a $2 sign from SVdP’s last chance thrift store. It said, “Home sweet home.”

When Michelle arrived at Ozanam Manor, she knew she would work in partnership with her case manager to secure housing, but she never expected the additional services she received. SVdP’s Dental Clinic fitted her with new teeth, the Family Dining Room provided meals, and the Resource Center helped with the occasional clothing or hygiene item. She also found friends and a supportive community of people all working toward achieving a better life for themselves. Like so many experience, the residents and staff became like family for Michelle. With immediate needs cared for, Michelle and her SVdP case manager worked to secure her income and housing. It would take over a year because of her health, income, and disability, but finally Michelle found and moved into a new studio apartment on the first floor.

She had lost everything before finding Ozanam Manor to lead her home.

MICHELLE’S STORY

“I never thought I would get a place as nice as this,” Michelle said. “It’s light, an open space. Hardwood floors throughout, so you don’t have to worry about carpets. Brand new appliances, counter space, windows, ceiling fans, just everything you can think of.”

For a year and a half, Michelle Rivers lived at Ozanam Manor, the transitional housing shelter and program at St. Vincent de Paul. A coalescing of unfortunate events—a failing marriage, a lost job, and sudden health issues—put Michelle on the street.

Michelle passed away from health complications only a few months later. But she lived a renewed life those last months in her studio apartment, where she felt the world of possibility open to her. Now her light and legacy live on at SVdP.

“I never thought in a million years at 48 years old that I’d be homeless and on Medicaid,” said Michelle, who had worked for 25 years in the pharmacy field before her company downsized and laid her off. “But when you’re living week to week, it can happen to anybody. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do if you don’t have a backup system.”

“There wasn’t a guilt factor,” Catherine said, “but rather this question: Why am I where I am and why is she where she is? Only God knows why, but her story incredibly impacted me.”

In offering that to Michelle, Catherine feels she received so much more in kinship and kindness. She left inspired to run the half marathon and raised over $2,300 for the transitional housing program.

WHEN WE CREATE COMMON GROUND

“It was important for Michelle to be known and loved,” said Catherine, who lived through seven years of debilitating symptoms before being diagnosed with Lyme’s disease. “In my years in illness, I had a lot of time in isolation, which is one of the hardest things. It’s not easy to find someone who relates or cares enough to walk in from the outside and say, ‘Hey, I care about you, and I want to sit with you for 45 minutes and hear about your struggles and encourage you.’”

After meeting Michelle during a tour and swapping life stories, former staff member Catherine Mulhern was inspired to run the Phoenix Rock ‘N’ Roll half marathon as a fundraiser for Ozanam Manor. The two women had bonded over the shared experience of chronic pain and illness. They found common ground.

· Create new meeting space for community use. Corporate groups will have the opportunity to volunteer and hold meetings on site. Nonprofit agencies will come together in collaboration to tackle our community’s challenges. Universities will take up residence for service learning and research.

We work from the position that our community has enough generosity (volunteer hours, innovative ideas, and financial resources) to solve many of our greatest challenges—we simply need to harness that generosity and give it a place to flourish and take action.

CENTER FOR VOLUNTEERISM AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

· House our community engagement teams to build collaboration and leverage the ability to serve community members looking for volunteer opportunities or purposeful work, while also becoming a leading voice of inspiration and hope in our community.

The Center for Volunteerism and Community Engagement will be at the heart of St. Vincent de Paul’s main campus in south Phoenix. Interactions with staff, guests in need, and other community volunteers will be regular happenings, moving all of us to come together on common ground to solve the challenges in front of us and to better experience the common humanity and goodness in one another.

· Establish a new home for SVdP’s Volunteer Office, where individuals, families, and groups can work together to serve people in need.

· Focus space and programming to foster inspired servant leaders in Arizona through education programs, internships and fellowships, and a speaker series to highlight the challenges and great hope that exist in our community.

· Create a 25,000 sq. ft. new building that opens up to ample outdoor community gathering space.

WHERE VOLUNTEERASHIFTMEETSLIFE’SPURPOSE

Debby Suárez

For Debby Suárez, 16, volunteering in St. Vincent de Paul’s Dream Center is an opportunity for her to grow the skills she will need in a future career as a teacher. The junior from Metrotech High School in Phoenix first started volunteering three times a week in SVdP’s educational enrichment center in 2018. “I remember clocking in for eight hours sometimes in the summer,” Debby says, “because I wasn’t old enough to get a job, but I loved coming here.” Over time, Debby grew close to the families, listening to them and working one-on-one with their children.

“The connections I’ve made here have lasted through the pandemic. I have an emotional attachment to this place. I’ve grown up here.”

“I can feel the thickness and the texture of the stem. I can feel the soil, whether I’m harvesting or planting seeds. It makes me feel joy, a deep feeling of wellbeing. Back in my home garden it’s different. Here, it’s much more. It’s service to the community. I’m giving something to the community that is bigger than just me.”

Tom Jones Every week Tom Jones, 75, volunteers on the Rob and Melani Walton Urban Farm at St. Vincent de Paul, where he seeds about 400 plants. But a genetic visual impairment denies him the sight of all the plant life he’s helped start. Tom began slowly losing his vision in 2007. He retired shortly thereafter but missed being with people. Now he finds meaning in what he feels—both with his hands and his heart—at St. Vincent de Paul.

Rob Maruster Rob Maruster, 50, had an impressive career as an executive with over 25 years in the airline industry and later as Chief Operations Officer for Republic Services in Phoenix. When Rob suddenly had a hemorrhagic stroke, everything changed. He found himself lucky to be alive, but re-evaluating being in the workforce. That’s when his volunteer career took off at St. Vincent de Paul, first volunteering in the Rob and Melani Walton Urban Farm and then in the kitchen and Family Dining Room.

“I love coming into this place, to be honest. I love the people that I work with most of all. It makes me feel good to know that I have this place with these people. My whole family lives on the East Coast, so this is my family here.”

Jean Butler Jean Butler found herself craving something more out of retirement. She missed the rest of the world. She fondly remembers her first day volunteering in St. Vincent de Paul’s Surprise Thrift Store, when the supervisor immediately greeted her with a big hug.

Ben Ko Ben Ko is a professional hair stylist in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has amassed over 31,000 followers on Instagram for his hair styling business. After starting his career in Arizona 20 years ago, Ben was looking for a way to give back, so he traveled Phoenix to cut hair for the homeless. After multiple haircuts on street corners, he came to volunteer in St. Vincent de Paul’s barbershop.

Now Jean has volunteered in the housewares section for about six years, getting things sorted, processed, priced, and on the store floor for customers. At 84, the work keeps her active and spry.

“I like it because you actually see the people that you’re helping to feed. I never want to forget what that feels like every time I come in here.”

“I started doing this, because I was looking for an outlet to share my craft and to cut hair for some clients I may not normally see in my shop. I’ve met a great group of people and developed friendships through this. It’s really become a fun outlet for me to do something I love to do, and I share that with other people.”

For more than 75 years, St. Vincent de Paul has been a pillar of hope and help in the Phoenix community and throughout central and northern Arizona.

THEN, NOW, FOREVER

1950 First thrift store opens 1952 First opensdiningcharityroom 1977 Free medical and clinicdentalopens 1984 Ministry to the beginshomeless 1985 Ozanam Manor, our shelter,transitionalopens 1987 Main campus on Watkins Rd. is built 1990 Mesa Dining Room opens 1991 Central kitchen and roomdiningopens on main campus 1992 Medical and dental clinic moves to main campus 18

From that first moment of recognizing a community need and responding, St. Vincent de Paul in central and northern Arizona has grown exponentially to feed, clothe, house, and heal—offering hope to Arizonans as old and new challenges face our community.

Following the example of our founder Frederic Ozanam, who began the first-ever St. Vincent de Paul in France in 1833, the four men began serving meals and visiting with families in their homes to deliver not just food, but the love and care that St. Vincent de Paul wraps around all those we serve.

In 1946 we started in St. Mary’s Basilica with the determination of four men who felt they could not stand by as hunger and homelessness increased in the Phoenix area after World War II.

PILLAR OF

A THE COMMUNITY

“A strong institution is needed in every community, first to stop the fall, and then to lift us back up. This is St. Vincent de Paul.” – Steve Zabilski

1996 opensDiningSunnyslopeRoom 2005 Phoenix Dining Room moves to CampusServicesHuman 2010 opensDreamChildren’sCenter 2012 Urban CampusServicesHumanbeginsProgramFarmat 2018 Rob and Melani Walton Urban Farm expansion opens on main DianecampusandBruce Halle Center for Hope and Healing opens, housing new Ozanam Manor and new Resource Center 2019 ClinicandPiperVirginiaExpandedG.MedicalDentalopens 2020 Hope Chest Thrift Store opens SINCE FOUNDINGOUR IN PHOENIX, WE’VE ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH: 60 million+ meals served 162 million+ pounds of food distributed 5 million+ volunteer hours served 350,000+ shelter nights provided 450,000+ guests experiencing homelessness helped 300,000+ medical, dental and wellness visits provided Unlimited acts of kindness, love, and community connection

A new era of need is upon us, and we are at a moment again where we must address rising homelessness in our community and prevent it from growing further. And now we face the additional challenge of rebuilding human connection after a time of intense isolation. However, history shows that our work is not a single moment or phase to be passed, but instead a constant of society. There will always be need, which is why there must always be St. Vincent de Paul. We’re asking for help to meet our current moment with strength, imagination and collective prowess, but we hope you see this moment for the singular mark it will be on St. Vincent de Paul’s stretching timeline.

ENSURING OUR WORK FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

Our endowment not only allows us to strive for a campus and operation ready to meet future need, but it also protects the strides we take together as a community in expanding our services. In this effort, our vision must be bold and our efforts fearless. The future of our ability to support our community lies in our determination and collective action today. Our goal is to emerge with a $100 million endowment in cash and commitments on our 80th anniversary in 2026.

Today, we have immediate pressures on our campus. We desperately need more transitional housing and programming to support our residents— a place to feel safe and find their way forward a place for their animals to receive care a place to learn and ready themselves for the workforce

We need to ensure that St. Vincent de Paul will be here for them, for all time. For all those who will need us to lift them back up… For all those who will seek our common ground as a place to feel hope and happiness and to encounter the best parts of humanity…

While we must address these needs, St. Vincent de Paul understands the larger opportunity we have—a chance to reimagine our campus at its best and all it could offer not just to meet needs today, but to be ready for response in years to come. So often we talk about being our best selves from wherever we stand. But what if we could stand and operate from a place with fewer “make-dos” and more intentional purpose and maximized potential? How many more people could we help? How many more people could find meaning and fulfillment in our mission? A community institution must not only meet today’s needs but also be prepared for and sustainable for tomorrow. A focus on growing SVdP’s endowment will support this effort.

And we also need a dedicated space that is purposeful in gathering people to inspire compassion and service.

Capital Projects Ozanam Manor II $20,000,000 Campus Redevelopment $7,000,000 Land Acquisition $8,000,000 Center for Volunteerism and Community Engagement $15,000,000 CAPITAL INVESTMENT $50,000,000 Endowment Effort Cash Gifts $40,000,000 Gift Intentions in Estate Plans $60,000,000 ENDOWMENT INVESTMENT $100,000,000 TOTAL CAMPAIGN INVESTMENT $150,000,000 A CAMPUS READY FOR TODAY AND TOMORROWENDOWMENTEFFORTCAPITALPROJECTS$100,000,000$50,000,000 22

Center for Volunteerism and Community Engagement Ozanam$15,000,000Manor II $20,000,000 iWWestatknsRoad Dining Kitchen Chapel NORTH Campus $8,000,000Land$7,000,000RedevelopmentAcquisition Diane & Bruce Halle Center for Hope & Healing Maintenance Virginia G. Piper Medical & Dental Clinic VincentianSupport TransportationWarehouse Hoop House HydroponicGarden Food Reclamation South 5th Avenue I-17AccessRoad Processing Center I-17Freeway GW.ibsonLane Rob & Melani Walton Urban Farm D E F G H I J North Lobby Main Entrance Playground Ozanam Manor II, Workforce Development & Service Animal Care South 3rd AvenueGW.ibsonLane Center for Volunteerism and Community Center OpportunitiesWorkforcefor South 3rd Drive K 23

“Our commitment is two-fold,” Bob says. “In the near term, we’re helping to get Angels on Call and the CAP clinic launched. But we also want to make sure our programs continue long into the future. We see Angels on Call and the animal clinic as part of our legacy, something we can leave behind.”

Nowextraordinary.”CAPhaspetpantries established at each of SVdP’s charity dining rooms and hosts wellness and spay/neuter clinics with many community partners, including Arizona Humane Society, Maricopa County Animal Care and Control, and Midwestern University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Marion and Bob both volunteer at the wellness clinics, helping care reach a previously underserved population of pets, while also giving owners hope. (Pets are often their only source of companionship.)

“It comes down to head, hands, heart,” Bob says. “Do things to stimulate your mind, do things to keep yourself physically active, but also do things to keep your spirits enthused.” Angels on Call has provided Bob with that opportunity.

Not only have the Aurays generously donated to the capital campaign in support of the new animal clinic to be built as part of Ozanam Manor II, but they’ve also made an endowment gift to make sure that the SVdP programs they love and help spearhead will be here to respond to community need for years to come.

“I don’t ever again want to be a donor only,” Marion says.

Bob and Marion Auray found that SVdP’s culture of ‘yes’ creates common ground, welcoming everyone to contribute and play a meaningful role in building a better community. For Bob, his ‘yes’ moment came after attending SVdP’s annual breakfast fundraiser. He left feeling on fire and wanting to do more—something beyond giving his dollar. That led him to get involved with Angels on Call, a SVdP smartphone application and giving platform that offers a one-to-one opportunity for a donor to provide immediate financial support to a person or family on the verge of homelessness or already on the street. Bob has backed the project with time and money, playing an integral role in the app’s development and vision.

“There has been so much more fulfillment for me as I’ve grown my involvement and been part of St. Vincent de Paul’s growth.”

“They could have told me, ‘We only focus on human services,’” Marion says. “There are a million reasons to say no. And yet, they said yes. I just find that

WHERE PASSION MEETS IMPACT

As Bob grew his relationship with St. Vincent de Paul, Marion found a way in which her talents and animal rescue background could help. She saw a gap in care for pets of people experiencing homelessness and with SVdP, founded the Companion Animal Program (CAP).

In the Auray household, St. Vincent de Paul is described as a ‘yes’ charity. YES to ideas. YES to partnership. YES to getting things done.

– Bob & Marion Auray

“The generosity of spirit is in all of us, but we don’t always have an opportunity to let that run. I think St. Vincent de Paul has given us that opportunity. Let the generosity run.”

“Every day, volunteers and guests experience the magic of connecting on a human level, and the issues suddenly have a face, a name, a story. In seeing each other face to face, we find not hunger, homelessness or poverty, but hope.”

INVITATION Common Ground is about more than buildings and physical space. It is an aspiration that St. Vincent de Paul is for everyone—people who need help and people who can offer help. St. Vincent de Paul is a home that brings out our best selves and a place where people turn and are met with help and hope. And it is about much more than St. Vincent de Paul, too. Common Ground is about all of us jointly creating the community that we want today, tomorrow, and forever. It is about combining the dreams we have for Arizona and harnessing our talents, expertise, and gifts to make those dreams a reality. It is for us, for you, for them, for everyone—to flourish, to belong, to find joy. This may be our highest calling: to find ways that our gifts and talents can help create something that endures in the service and care for others. And we believe that in helping, we, too, find fulfillment, joy, purpose, and belonging. We invite you to consider how we can do this together. How your gifts and talents, your passions and dreams for our community can help create the common ground we all need and deserve.

– Shannon Clancy

P.O. Box 13600 Phoenix, AZ 85002 stvincentdepaul.net We are one family.