diocese works to reopen downtown dining hall

By KALEA HALL

khall@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

While former volunteers of the St. Vincent de Paul Society brought lunch service back to Front Street, the Diocese of Youngstown and others are leading efforts to restore the shuttered food

service.

The diocese as well as the National Council of the U.S. Society of St. Vincent de Paul said they are working to reopen the hall as soon as possible.

“We are working closely with Bishop [George] Murry and his staff and local Society of St. Vincent de Paul leadership to resolve the situation,” said Gary Stevens, national director of marketing and communications for the National Council of the U.S. Society of St. Vincent de Paul, in a statement. “Our priority is helping the local [society] to assist those in need in the Youngstown area and get back to serving the community.”

The dining hall has been closed since Monday. St. Vincent de Paul Society Mahoning District President Brian Antal said the closure was due to “personnel issues.”

Volunteers told The Vindicator they walked out in support of longtime hall manager Ralph “Skip” Barone, who resigned Nov. 27.

“We at the diocese have been in touch with the national office of St. Vincent de Paul and they requested that we put our concerns in writing to them so they can respond accordingly,” said the Rev. David Bergner, vicar for social concerns at the Catholic Charities Diocese of Youngstown on Wednesday afternoon. “Our primary concern is to reopen the dining hall as soon as possible. We have some recommendations on the best way to accomplish that.”

The operation of the dining hall is complicated. It operates under a local board made up of presidents of individual parishes’ own Society of St. Vincent de Paul conferences.

While the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown has no contractual authority over the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Mahoning County, officials said the church and dining hall do share the same mission.

“The bishop is necessarily involved as the spiritual leader of the diocese,” Father Bergner explained.

The National Council of the U.S. St. Vincent de Paul Society generally does not get involved in the local council operations unless requested.

On Wednesday, Barone’s return to hand out lunches brought a sense of warmth back to Front Street.

With a pep in his step and wearing his “blessed” hat, Lionel Walker grabbed some lunch on Wednesday as he embraced his friends at the same time.

The lunch, the friends and the social environment were all there for Walker to enjoy again – just like he did when he went to St. Vincent de Paul Society for lunch.

“For the last 11 years it has helped me,” Walker said of the dining hall.

Barone was back in his comfort zone. After working for 15 years and managing the kitchen for 13 years, Barone knows the regulars of the society’s dining hall.

“Skip treated me like royalty,” Walker said.

The closure did not come as a surprise to many volunteers, clients and others who said they were distraught over Antal’s leadership.

“We don’t like the policies that Mr. Brian Antal is creating,” said Allen Wasylychyn, an eight-year volunteer. “They go against the mission. From my outlook, the mission is to feed everybody. He’s against that.”

Tuesday, as area St. Vincent de Paul Society conference presidents met to discuss the closure, Antal sent out a release stating a new dining-hall manager was hired. Neither the name of the manager nor an expected date for when the dining hall will reopen has been released.

“You will get a media release when we are ready,” Antal said Wednesday about the name of the dining hall manager.

Late Wednesday, Antal issued another press release, this one saying the dining hall would reopen at 10:30 a.m. Monday for lunch and resume its normal schedule moving forward.

After reading a Vindicator article on Tuesday about the closure, an anonymous donor came forward to help feed those who would not be able to get a lunch at the society’s dining hall.

“We are very pleased to see that,” Father Bergner said of the donation.

The donation allowed for 142 bagged lunches and other items to be passed out Wednesday across from St. Vincent de Paul’s closed dining hall, located at 208 Front St.

The lunches will be handed out again at 11 a.m. today in the parking lot across from the dining hall.

“I enjoy just helping the people,” Barone said. “We are going to stay out here as long as the kitchen is closed. We have been very blessed.”