This month the St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Conference here at St. Francis is celebrating 10 amazing years of service to neighbors in our community who are experiencing economic hardship. As we celebrate this decade of service, we give special thanks to you! Thank you for your prayers, your kindness and your generosity over the years!
For 10 years, supported in large measure by parishioners of St. Francis, volunteers of SVdP have had the privilege and have been given the grace to walk alongside our neighbors in need, listening to their stories, honoring their dignity, sharing their burdens and offering moments of hope. This work is all about showing up for our brothers and sisters in Christ, staying present, and trusting that encounter and compassion can change lives, including our own.
The SVdP ministry focuses on helping individuals and families weather short-term financial crises by assisting with essentials such as rent or utility bills and offering support at moments when one unexpected setback could threaten their stability, indeed their livelihood and home. In 10 years, we have assisted over 2000 people. We have provided almost $400,000 in assistance and this assistance helped to avert over 550 potential evictions and to avoid over 240 shut-offs of utilities. And sadly the amount of assistance needed has increased nearly every year due to the rising cost of rent, increased food costs, and other impacts on a family budget.
Most of those we serve are employed, often with more than one job, living paycheck to paycheck and doing their very best to stay afloat. A missed paycheck due to illness, surgery, or caregiving responsibilities can quickly turn into a housing emergency. An unexpected car repair, a death in the family, or a part-time job loss can leave a family without enough money to pay utilities that month Preventing eviction or utility shutoffs not only protects families from immediate harm, but also helps avoid long-term consequences that make recovery far more difficult, financially, emotionally, and socially.
Our assistance begins with a returned phone call from a caller to our hotline and then a visit where a relationship is formed. Members meet neighbors in their homes, listen carefully to their stories, and discern together how best to help. When aid is provided, payments are made directly to landlords or utility companies, and families are also connected with additional resources such as food programs, legal aid and medical support.
In the spirit of its namesake, St. Vincent de Paul, a priest known for his deep humility and tireless care for the poor, the ministry emphasizes personal connection and relationships as much as practical help. Vincent believed service to the poor was a central way to live the Gospel, and that belief continues to shape the work today. Our work also reflects a core principle of Catholic Social Teaching – a preferential Option For The Poor and Vulnerable.
A beautiful consequence of our SVdP ministry, as Jesus would have it, is that when volunteers put their faith into action they are transformed. As one volunteer recently remarked: “Doing works of service has always been important to me, but not until volunteering with SVdP did I experience the movement to Christ that Pope Francis always talked about. Meeting, helping and walking with our neighbors in need has changed my life. I feel closer, more in sync with God perhaps. I am so grateful.”
As we celebrate this decade of service, we invite you to join us! We are in need of volunteers to help with intake calls and visits to families in need. We are also in need of financial help. Our ministry receives a yearly grant from the parish tithe. Increasingly though we have had to depend on other sources beyond this grant and have looked to outside grants and individual donations from parishioners to provide financial help. As we anticipate the need for assistance to continue to rise, we need your help like never before.
You can go to the SVdP website to find out more information and to donate and volunteer: https://stfrancissvdp.org/
You can also follow this link to find out more specifics regarding our financial commitment over the years: https://stfrancissvdp.org/our-thanks-by-the-numbers/
Most importantly, as we celebrate this decade of service, we thank you! Thank you for the support you have already provided and will continue to provide as we all work together to make a lasting difference in the lives of neighbors in need. May we continue to walk together with humility and joy, committed to serving the poor not just with our hands, but with our hearts.
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