St. Vincent de Paul of Dayton

Strengthening our Community: St. Vincent de Paul of Dayton

History

When Flagel Huber Flagel (FHF) made a conscious decision that the Nonprofit sector would be a key part of their business, they knew by focusing on their clients, their clients could focus on their mission.

St. Vincent de Paul (St. Vincent) of Dayton traces its history back to 1948 with the forming of the Dayton District Council. From the beginning their vision was simple – improve the lives of those in need. For 70 years St. Vincent has been doing just that in the Dayton area by assisting those in need. Today St. Vincent’s serves as our community’s safety net for the homeless and impoverished. They stand between those in need and almost unimaginable consequences. Whether it is by providing food, clothing or shelter St. Vincent’s supports those in need as they struggle to reclaim their lives.

St. Vincent serves more than 100,000 people in the Dayton community every year through shelters and supportive housing programs, food pantries, community stores, and other community-based programs. They provide this support through their three key divisions: Social Services (provides temporary housing, permanent housing and case work), Charitable Services (operates the community stores to provide food, furniture and other essentials), and the District Council (owns and operates the Job Services building).  In order to fulfill and sustain their mission, they partner with firms that share their values and match their progressive thinking.

How We Entered the Picture

The first homeless shelter opened in 1985 when St. Vincent hosted homeless people at an abandoned firehouse on Fifth Street in downtown Dayton. Today, St. Vincent serves more than 100,000 people in the Dayton community every year through shelters, food pantries, community stores, furniture bank, supportive housing programs and conferences.

FHF has served as St. Vincent’s accounting and business partner for over 15 years. The nonprofit expertise at FHF combined with the caring and progressive leadership at both organizations, enables the sustained impact of the St. Vincent mission on the Dayton community.

Progressive Partners

As part of aligning their values with their work, FHF made a conscious decision to focus on the Nonprofit sector. For 15 years now, FHF has helped St. Vincent navigate between the complex audit, reporting and tax compliance issues associated with owning a 350,000 square foot building that serves as the cornerstone for charitable funding, and the hands-on work of building a secure and integrated system of best practices among 30+ local parishes that fundraise for St. Vincent.

St. Vincent has progressive leadership that allows them to both focus on their mission in the short term and plan for the sustainment of that mission in the longer term. Chris McCaskey, FHF Partner, says, “St. Vincent is an extremely progressive and innovative Nonprofit organization. They recognize that they need to hire the best people and be creative, innovative fundraisers to have the biggest impact and fulfill their mission for many, many years to come.”  That progressive spirit came through when St. Vincent built and maintained a culture that valued sustainability while at the same time strategically funding a major renovation on the 350,000 sq. ft. Job Services building through a bond issuance. FHF assisted St. Vincent CFO, Christine Hampton with analysis related to cash projections, debt service requirements and compliance with covenants while the organization moved forward with negotiations on the terms of a new long-term lease agreement on the Job Services building.

Hampton says, “We value our partnership with FHF not only because of their Nonprofit expertise and their knowledgeable staff, but also for the above-and-beyond support they provide through volunteering and supporting our events. They keep us up to date on the latest Nonprofit accounting issues and they are always available when we have questions or need guidance.”

For Chris McCaskey, and everyone at FHF, working with St. Vincent means a lot. Says McCaskey, “In the background we do audits and technical accounting work, but we also visit the facilities and see the impact of the work they are doing. St. Vincent is having an enormous impact on people and on our community. It feels good to know that we are helping them, so they can make Dayton a better place to live.”

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