Karen Reese speaks at a recent press conference announcing the capital campaign. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette District of St. Vincent de Paul has officially launched a $1.2 million capital campaign aimed at renovating its 2119 Presque Isle Ave. location.

“Just over four years ago, 10 of our Vincentians formed a revitalization committee, because they were concerned that we had become stagnant,” said Karen Reeze, St. Vincent de Paul District President. “The end result of this initiative was a strategic plan adopted in 2022, which has focused our efforts for the last four years to give life to the organization and to have structure for the future.”

Over those four years, the Marquette District of St. Vincent de Paul has doubled their number of active volunteers, completed a phase one renovation to their Marquette location in 2022, improved pantry operations and more. Now they’re thinking bigger, with a phase two renovation which will improve and expand the services they are able to provide.

In the past year, the organization has provided $39,646 for rent and eviction prevention, $31,743 to assist with heat and utility bills, $8,159 in vouchers to shop at their thrift stores, and $15,723 for a variety of other community needs. They also provided 9,700 people with food assistance, making up 4,011 families.

“High rental costs, inflation and limited access to essential resources have placed unprecedented strain on the families and individuals we serve,” said Reese. “We are seeing more neighbors in our food pantries, and requests for financial assistance are increasing in both number and urgency. Our facility at 2119 Presque Isle Avenue is aging and no longer adequate to accommodate the expanding services our community depends on.”

The capital campaign, which has already reached over 80% of its donation goal thanks to a lead gift from the Katers Foundation, as well as several other donors, will allow St. Vincent de Paul to make the necessary facility updates and expansions.

“We’re going to take this money and improve the infrastructure in our entire facility,” said Dan Trotochaud, St. Vincent de Paul Facilities Chairperson. “Heating, cooling, electrical.”

Part of the current St. Vincent de Paul building in Marquette is the old North Marquette School, which is an old building in need of a new roof. Trouchaud estimates that that phase of the project will begin this June.

The renovation will also renovate the food pantry and financial aid office areas.

“We have so many people coming in with requests, whether it’s for rent, utilities, whatever the need is,” said Trotochaud. “And if there’s more than one (person), the second one ended up going into the storage room of the pantry, where on cases of food they would fill out for this financial aid … the privacy was skeptical at best.

“We are going to rearrange and rebuild the inside of the building, and we will put in two conference rooms (and) two interview rooms where we can do this in a very professional, confidential manner.”

The renovation will include a 1,344-square-foot addition to the existing building, which will be used as offices, bathrooms, and a conference room meant to hold community programming classes on topics like budgeting. Another addition will be an added canopy over the donation drop-off area.

“It’s nice to be able to put it all together, and six, eight, nine months from now, when it’s all said and done, it’ll be really nice to say we’ve done it all, and we’ve done it all together,” said Trotochaud, who put the timeline of project completion at around or before the start of 2027.

While significant progress on the capital campaign has been made, St. Vincent de Paul is still in need of community support to fully fund their vision. Those interested in supporting the organization’s mission can donate at svdpmqtdistrict.org or by delivering a check payable to SVDP Marquette District Capital Campaign to 2119 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855.

“We really believe this is a major step for us,” said Reese. “We will grow, we will improve, and we will offer more to this community, and to those people in our community who need support.”

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.