SET Ministry was born as a program of the Wheaton Franciscan System in March 1985. It came about in response to a mandate from a General Chapter of the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters for its corporations to more actively operationalize a “Preferential Option for the Poor.”

As proposed, SET (Service, Empowerment, Transformation) — the acronym taken directly from the sisters’ goals of the Chapter — was to be a demonstration model of collaboration that could be replicated elsewhere with the belief that collaboration would result in greater effectiveness than individual efforts. The ministry was to be with and among the poor and marginalized.

The decision was made to implement the proposal in Milwaukee. It was to function as a program of Mission Services through the corporate offices of WFSI. A steering committee was established to assist with the refinement of the proposal. The committee members, including Wheaton Franciscans, were representatives from ten women’s religious congregations that already had ministries among the poor in the central city of Milwaukee. They were very capable in identifying studies of the Milwaukee scene that were available, critical gaps in services (unmet needs) and the potential resources available or needed.

The committee moved the proposal forward and SET was implemented in three subsidized housing for the elderly projects. The model was to follow criteria:

• To meet an unmet need
• To be non-duplicative
• To incorporate Service, Empowerment and Transformation

In spring of 1986 ten additional men and women’s communities and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee were invited to participate. A letter from the Wheaton Franciscan’s Provincial was sent to all, inviting them to learn more about the model and to elicit their participation in an enhanced collaborative effort to serve the poor. They were asked to explore together for one year to determine what could be done collaboratively. Nineteen congregations agreed to participate and the Archdiocese was represented.

In agreeing to participate, each of the 19 congregations was asked to contribute at least one resource (more if they were able):

• Prayer
• In-kind contributions
• Financial support

In 1988 SET was separately incorporated as a joint venture with the Wheaton Franciscan System and 17 congregations. The Archdiocese is not a participating member but has contributed financial support for specific programs offered by SET The Board of Directors includes representatives of the sponsoring religious congregations and WFSI, and members of Milwaukee’s civic community. Through the years programs have been added.

Today there are over 50 paid positions and approximately 25 volunteers.