MONROE — Monroe’s St. Vincent de Paul store is one of the many groups in Wisconsin that received a grant from the Green Bay Packer Foundation this year, including other Green County groups such as Fowler Memorial Free Dental Clinic, Home of Our Own Inc., and Men’s Resource Center of Green County.

The Green Bay Packer Foundation continues to give back to communities in Wisconsin since being established in 1986. The charities they support all have goals such as perpetuating a community environment for families, promoting the competitive values of athletics, ensuring safety and education of children, contributing to player and fan welfare, and preventing cruelty to animals. In 2026, they have distributed $1.6 million to 402 civic and charitable groups throughout Wisconsin. Only 53 of the 72 counties in Wisconsin physically received grants, but the funding impacts every county in the state through multi-county support that many organizations provide.

The Foundation is now moving to a four-year grant cycle where each year will focus on a different program:

● 2026 focuses on animal welfare, homelessness, and human services.

● 2027 will focus on arts and culture, environment, and hunger.

● 2028 will focus on athletics and education.

● 2029 will focus on elders, and health and wellness (including drug/alcohol and domestic violence).

The grant that St. Vincent de Paul received will go to helping the Monroe community stay in their homes.

“It goes directly toward the individuals that we help with their rent payments or mortgage payments, just to be able to keep them in their homes. That was the category that the foundation chose to help us, so that is where that money is going to go,” manager Alyssa Morris said.

The grant from the foundation was extremely helpful in continuing their goals for the Friends in Need Program.

“So obviously it’s a big deal because it’s an NFL team, and it’s just something different. They only do so many a year, and we’ll be able to apply again in four more years, so it’s not like a one-and-done thing with them,” she said. “They gave us a huge shoutout, we gave them a huge shoutout, and it’s just been great. Somebody came all the way here just to see the facility. With the first-timers, they try to make an in-person visit, so that was pretty cool to me.”

The Friends in Need program is something St. Vincent de Paul does to give back to the community, showing they are more than just a thrift store.

“Our main focus and the main part of our mission is to keep people in their homes and try to end homelessness as much as possible. It’s very hard around here; housing is very hard to find. We deal with that on a daily basis,” she explained. “We’re able to spend the money that we have on maybe an electric bill for somebody or a car repair bill. Rent is always our number one thing every year. Last year we did $76,000 in assistance as a whole, and this year, we’re already pushing $140,000. So, the need is there and at this point, grants have been very difficult to come by because, unfortunately, it’s the world we live in. We are grateful for this one. It was huge.”

The St. Vincent de Paul store in Monroe is also going to be opening a new sales floor called Christmas Land. The opening is set for Oct. 9.