PERRYVILLE – The Perryville Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) has purchased the Colonnade Building including 1.3 acres of land at 312 N. Jackson Street.
SVDP is an international Catholic lay organization of women and men who grow spiritually by helping the needy and suffering.
The Perryville SVDP was established in 1996 and has operated a Thrift Store at 123 W. North Street for 20 years.
According to Society president Andy Graf, “The thrift store has always been run by community volunteers from many different backgrounds, ages, and religions. Generated funds are used to meet the needs of neighbors in Perry County who can’t pay rent, utilities, fix their cars, or meet some other normal everyday expenses.
“SVDP has seen an increase in neighbors needs in recent years and has been fortunate to see an increase in donations and sales at the store to keep up with increase demand.”
The building of the new Perry County Joint Justice Center will cause the loss of a storage building and the current thrift store is operating at full capacity. Graf says “We need to rethink our business model. The new purchase and possible expansion will afford us an opportunity to consolidate space and increase efficiencies by eventually housing all of our operations on one campus. This would allow the Society to better serve our neighbors in need.”