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Every July 25, St. Vincent de Paul remembers long time General Manager, Dan Austin, who passed away on that day in 2018. We now call the area of the old store, where transitional assistance, from clothing and food to navigator assistance to find housing and employment, the Dan Austin Center.

For over 20 years Dan served the Society with great commitment and love. He left a legacy of incredible business acumen, skill at navigating grants and rules related to low income housing, but most of all, great passion and care for the poor and homeless in Juneau.

“To me, Dan was a true example of someone living out the mission of the Society, which is to ‘provide material and spiritual charity and work for social justice for all people’,” said Board President, Maureen Hall. “He was a compassionate friend to all and a visionary leader. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.”

For his second anniversary, no memorial service could be held, but he may be best remembered by this prayer that was found on his computer:

Oh, Great Spirit,
whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me.
I am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes
ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength, not to be better than my brother (or sister),
but to fight my greatest enemy – myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes,
so when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit will come to you
without shame.

Read the original article published on The Inside Passage.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Juneau is pleased to announce the appointment of David Ringle as our next General Manager. Ringle will lead the organization in our mission to provide material and spiritual charity and work for social justice for all. St. Vincent de Paul is known as the “landlord with a heart” managing low-income housing for seniors, families and individuals. Additionally, we have partnered with the CBJ to operate the Emergency Cold Weather Shelter for the homeless, which operation has been extended into the summer as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We provide direct aid to the homeless and vulnerable in our community and operate a thrift store as both a source of revenue and a place to shop for those with limited resources.

Ringle comes to St. Vincent de Paul as a long-time community member who has recently retired with a 30+ year teaching career primarily at the middle school level. While one wouldn’t think of this as a foundation to lead a charitable non-profit, as it turns out, it is the perfect background. Ringle had been serving his first term on the Board of Directors when he stepped up to serve as the interim general manager and then answered the call to apply for the permanent position.

Ringle shared that when he was named interim general manager, he didn’t plan on applying for the permanent position. Still, after seeing the impact the organization’s staff and volunteers made in the community, he felt called to apply. He said he learned during an ACTS retreat that, “God doesn’t call the prepared, he prepares those he calls,” and that God was preparing him to lead this organization.

Ringle brings his classroom management skills to play in working with the board, staff, community partners and the friends we serve. In his short time as interim general manager, Ringle said he has seen how St. Vincent de Paul has helped its clients move from shelters to permanent housing. He said he wants to “continue to have success with our guests and our clients.”

Ringle has demonstrated servant leadership with his long history of community involvement in a wide array of groups including being an ACTS Retreat team member and ACTS Missions Retreat Board member, Juneau Freewheelers bicycling club member, volunteer coach for parks and recreation soccer and basketball, recently serving as Grand Knight for the Knights of Columbus, and as a past board member for the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay.

Dave and his wife Val, also a retired teacher, have raised their family in Juneau and are now proud grandparents.

We had to say goodbye to Ida Barnack in December. For those of us who have been part of St. Vincent de Paul over the last three decades, it is hard to imagine our family without Ida. She was the soul of the Thrift Store and the director of its volunteers. She was one of the longest serving members of our Board of Directors, most recently serving as Vice President. She was the organizational force behind our annual Walk For the Poor. It was only with her passing that even her children began to fully realize the depth of her service to Juneau. Below are a few words from those who had the blessing of knowing her.

“I’ll be honest and tell you that her children didn’t realize the full extent of her volunteer work. We were shocked to find a plaque where she was honored with ‘Volunteer of the Decade.’ That seemed like a significant amount of volunteering on her part, but she never mentioned it to any of us. She was hard-working and humble…well a little bossy too!  =) We all miss her tremendously.” “She held her faith without compromise or question. She understood that we are instructed to ‘welcome the stranger’; she never asked to see their green card. She was as fearless as a mama bear in her defense of the helpless.” “I’m one of so many who have been helped by Ida. I met Ida when I started an adult education center in Smith Hall at St. Vincent de Paul in 2000. Part of my time was spent helping people from other countries learn English. I’d have a class of six or so who were advancing nicely, then someone new showed up who couldn’t answer when I’d ask them their name.  Those new students became Ida’s.  She’d take them upstairs and work one on one with them making them feel safe and confident. The upstairs student soon became a group. As far as I know, for the next fifteen years, Ida has worked with immigrants helping them get along in our community on an almost daily basis.  When the St. Vincent Adult Education Center closed, she came downtown to the SERRC adult education center.  When a family center opened in Gruening Park, she went there too. If there weren’t adults to help, Ida helped with the kids.  Soon she became a regular at the after school club. Thank you, Ida, so much for all that you’ve done to help us and our community.  We will miss you.” “She was one of those who live the faith.  They take all the bad stuff about the church with a grain of salt and consider it merely noise.  It has little to do with their faith formation which transcends human fallibility.  Wish I was that confident in my faith and church.”