By Sallie Bachar
Catholic Herald Correspondent

St. Vincent de Paul opens store in Merrill

MERRILL -- The St. Francis Xavier Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is soon to be a reality in Merrill. It all began with the idea of one man, Denis McCarthy, a member of St. Francis Xavier parish.

Said McCarthy, "I was involved with St. Vincent's in Chicago many years ago and started asking myself, 'Why can't we open (a thrift store) here in Merrill.'" After discussing his idea with Fr. James Horath, pastor of St. Francis, McCarthy put the word out at a ministry fair held at the parish this past February. Several people expressed a desire to become involved and formed the present board of directors. In addition to McCarthy, they are Neil Strobel, Bill Curran, Mary Duginski, Cathy Kleinschmidt and Bob Polesnak, all parishioners of St. Francis.

After incorporating the organization, aligning themselves under the Diocese of Superior and fulfilling all the Federal and State requirements, the conference's first goal was to find a suitable location. A variety store in downtown Merrill had just gone out of business and the owners were anxious to sell the building. "We got it for a good price," said McCarthy. "God definitely had a hand in this."

Closing on the building took place May 30 and remodeling began immediately. The building, which is located on East Main Street, in the downtown area, consists of three floors with approximately 12,000-14,000 square feet, a good portion of which will house the thrift store.

"A lot of our resources are going into the renovation but everything just seems to be falling into place," commented McCarthy. "We started from nothing a few months ago and now we own a building."

Because of the building's large size, St. Vincent is offering floor space to various other service agencies in the Merrill area in the hope of providing one central location where the needs of the low-income population can be met. The St. Francis conference is patterning itself after St. Vincent's in Marshfield, Wis., which has also combined services into one building, including the providing of free medical and dental care. Said McCarthy, "They started out small too, but are doing quite well now."

Two local doctors are willing to volunteer their services, and a dental health clinic is interested in leasing space. However, the building needs an elevator, said McCarthy, and that becomes a big financial issue.

Although St. Vincent won't be officially open until sometime in July, the conference has already provided assistance to several individuals and families from initial cash donations. In addition, the basement is filling up rapidly with donations of clothing and household items.

A number of other parishioners from St. Francis expressed an interest in the project said McCarthy, and until the store is in a position to hire staff, the success of St. Vincent's will be dependent upon their generosity and commitment.

The society is willing to help anyone, regardless of need. There are no specific criteria to meet, McCarthy said. A home visitation committee evaluates the situation of a family or individual requesting assistance and will provide for short terms needs as funds allow. Once the thrift store is operating, the conference will be able to greatly expand its services to the low-income sector.

Following the directives of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, in a pastoral letter in January of this year, the new chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is ready to open its doors to "those who find themselves -- regardless of motive -- in situations of poverty, marginalization and exclusion."

"Conferences in other areas have been unbelievably successful," said McCarthy. "There's no reason why we can't be successful here. This a great group of dedicated people working very hard to make the whole thing come together."

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2003