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Oct. 19, 2006
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Vista Divestment invests in community |
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Couples donate to needy |
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NEW BERLIN — For the 31 years that Gary Westerbeek of Muskego worked for A.O. Smith Corporation near 29th Street and North Avenue, he said he was oblivious to the poverty he encountered daily.
At that time, he said, “You couldn’t really see the poverty in the inner city. I just drove right by it. I didn’t see it.”
All that has changed with Westerbeek and his wife, one of 14 couples involved in the Vista Divestment Group. Almost all of them are members of Holy Apostles Parish, New Berlin, or were members at the time the group was formed.
Through prayerful discernment, the couples meet once a month and decide to which small- or medium-sized group in the greater Milwaukee area they will donate money. Procedures are in place in order to focus on these smaller agencies or groups that do not receive funding from larger organizations such as the United Way or Red Cross.
Before the group decides to give a donation, members visit several organizations they are considering to assist monetarily. The visitors report to the group what they learned about the organizations’ needs. Generally, the monetary donation is about $750 per month for 10 months.
In its four years of existence, the group has given to 30 groups. These include Repairers of the Breach, a homeless day shelter for people needing help with life skills as well as employment; My Good Mourning Place, an organization in Milwaukee for grieving children; as well as Lissy’s Place, a convent divided into apartments for young women who come out of foster care at age 18 and have no place to go.
According to the group’s founder, Mariangela Pledl, “About 10 years ago I was listening to NPR, and a man from California was describing what they were doing in a similar group. That’s where the idea came from.”
So at Camp Vista, a family retreat camp which many of Holy Apostles’ families attend each summer, Pledl introduced the idea of the divestment group.
Linda Stalter said, “When we first organized, there were about 12 couples, all with roots in New Berlin and Holy Apostles Parish.”
Pledl, now a member of St. Paul Parish in Genesee Depot, said, “We were trying to simplify our lifestyle and be more careful of people in need.”
Except for August and December, they take turns meeting at each other’s homes the second Sunday of the month at 6 p.m. Since they all met at Camp Vista, they took the name Vista Divestment.
The meetings start with a prayer and fellowship. Then two couples that have researched and visited an organization make their presentations. A private ballot is then taken.
At the start of each year, members are asked to tell the group’s treasurer how much they will contribute each month. For privacy reasons, only the treasurer knows how much each couple donates. However, a minimum of $25 a month is required and the maximum given by a couple each month is $100.
Each September the money collected is donated to the Holy Apostles’ meal program and families at the St. Vincent’s meal site on the south side of Milwaukee.
“It’s been a learning experience for all of us. There are groups out there we didn’t know of before,” noted Bob Nolan, another member. However, members have recommended a few groups because they knew how well the group worked to help those in need.
For example, Westerbeek, now retired from A.O. Smith, knew of MAPT or Moving Ahead with Partnership and Trust, through that company.
“The idea of the group is to take care of those who are incarcerated and totally unprepared for the workplace. MAPT helps the inmates even before they are out of jail,” he said.
Nolan and his wife suggested the Franciscan Peacemakers. He discovered that group after talking to a deacon at his son’s parish in Menomonee Falls. Their church made sandwiches for youth for the Franciscan Peacemakers. When Nolan visited the distribution site of the sandwiches in an empty parking lot on the north side, he recalled, “All these little kids came out of the woodwork to get lunches.”
The group gives funds to about 10 agencies or needy groups a year.
While two couples present a group in need at each meeting and the entire group votes on one of those, at the next meeting the couple whose group was not chosen has an opportunity to present their group again, after they have gathered more information.
Even then if a couple’s suggested group is not selected, if they feel strongly about that group’s needs, they have the opportunity to present the same group for funds the following year. The presentations given by each couple follow a form and are detailed. They include the group’s budget, the number of people the group or agency serves annually, the number of paid staff, the number of volunteers, and the services the group provides.
The couples also ask how funds given by their Vista Divestment group would be used.
“The hardest part is deciding who gets the money,” said Nolan. So the group prays not only at the beginning and the end of the meeting, but just before the private ballots are cast.
After Westerbeek joined with his wife, he recalled that A.O. Smith was involved in the Open Door Foundation, an organization to which the Vista Divestment Club donated in the 2002-2003 year.
“So I eventually saw (the poverty) — it was a real eye opener for me to see all these little kids with special needs. One of the things I enjoy now is visiting these groups,” he said.
Stalter agreed.
“It’s so easy to write a check, but this is so real,” she said of the divestment group’s work.
While Pledl said the Vista Divestment group is satisfied with doing good work, “We also see all the other needs out there.” |
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