Document text
66 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 26, 2005 Bill Schueller showed up at Medford�s St. Vincent de Paul eight years ago offering to help. Monday he will retire as the organization�s president after leading it through a financial renaissance. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Schueller steps aside, having lit Catholic charity’s ‘Beacon of Hope’ By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune Bill Schueller was looking for something to do on the day his wife, Rosemary, played bridge. So the retired California salesman showed up at Medford’s St. Vincent de Paul, where someone handed him a dish towel. Eight years later, including six as the nonprofit Catholic agency’s president, Schueller is retiring — but only because he has to. According to the organization’s bylaws, his term is up. But he says he’ll miss the post where he graduated from dishwasher to director, although there have been many times when the jobs converged into one. When Schueller’s last day ends Monday, he will step aside, capping a short second career that may have been the most rewarding work of his life. Advertisement "What I enjoyed the most is helping the poor," said Schueller, 73, a great-grandfather who adds that the experience transformed him from a die-hard conservative into someone a little less staunch. "Now I’m a conservative, I guess, with liberal leanings," he said. "Before, I thought that people with problems were lazy." As Schueller reflected Friday on his volunteer job, nearly 500 poor and homeless people crowded the agency’s parking lot and food pantry, waiting for groceries and meals. Under Schueller’s guidance, the agency has grown in size, scope and success. "When I started, we had $70,000 in liquid assets and $200,000 in debt," Schueller said. "Since then we’ve paid the debt off and we have $1.3 million in our construction account." Indeed, St. Vincent de Paul is on the verge of completing a $2.3 million capital campaign, dubbed project "Beacon of Hope," which will transform the agency’s services. Launched in June, the project has received considerable support from most local community grant agencies and several Northwest heavy-hitters. Details remain confidential, but Schueller estimated that $900,000 in grant requests will be fulfilled. Community members credit Schueller’s leadership with the project’s success. Doug Snider, a Medford architect, said he donated his services to the agency because of Schueller’s influence. "He was the one that conveyed their vision to us," Snider said. Aided by a core group of advocates and an all-volunteer staff of 175, Schueller has headed one of the fastest, most successful multi-million-dollar fund drives in recent Southern Oregon history. The resources will be used to double the size of the agency’s thrift store and to relocate it to a more visible site. The St. Anthony’s Homeless shelter will provide bed space for twice as many families and single women and the agency will provide the area’s first day-use showers and laundry for homeless people. An expanded dining room, food pantry, social services area and parking lot will complete the project, which will more than double the capacity of the agency that last year provided 50,000 meals, 10,400 social service interventions and 3,600 bed nights to the local poor. That pleased Edwina Jenkins, 71, who has volunteered with St. Vincent de Paul for 22 years. The agency has seen many changes through the years, although none seem quite as dramatic as the proposed expansion, she said. She praised Schueller’s business acumen — and his heart. "I’m going to miss him," Jenkins said, patting Schueller’s shoulder. "He’s got a lot of compassion." Schueller plans to remain on the agency’s board of directors after new president Len Hebert of Jacksonville takes over. As he looks back, Schueller said he’s most proud of bringing the local St. Vincent de Paul chapter into compliance with the national group. "We were kind of known as a maverick organization," he said. He said he’ll miss the daily duties, even the difficult ones, such as counseling people suffering from drug addiction or mental illness. "We try to see the face of Jesus in each person we deal with," he said. "Sometimes, it’s hard." Still, the joy of helping people turn their lives around will linger, Schueller added: "When it works, it’s pure euphoria." Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress Advertisement s