Temporarily Closing Ministry Building

The Dalles Conference of St. Vincent de Paul Society is a non-profit group made up primarily of volunteers and has been serving The Dalles for nearly 40 years. Our mission is to serve the needs of the poor as Christ served others. With our partner agencies, Community Meals and Bread and Blessings, over 25,000 meals a year are served at our facility to those in need in our community. St. Vincent de Paul has provided household items, clothing vouchers, emergency hotel rooms, assistance with transportation, funding for medications and other help to people facing emergency situations.

Just under half of those we serve are temporarily or permanently without shelter. We provide sleeping bags, tarps, warm clothing and heat sources to help during environmentally challenging times. Our Ministry building provides access to bathrooms, showers and laundry—a means to allow our homeless citizens the ability to raise their dignity with simple hygiene and clean clothes. Our facility is also utilized by other agencies that reach out to those struggling with mental illnesses and addiction to provide opportunities to those wanting a better life for themselves. In addition, our facility has offered the only winter shelter in The Dalles for over ten years.

On August 1, 2023 the City of The Dalles informed St. Vincent de Paul that the Ministry building located at 315 W. 3rd Street was creating a “Public Nuisance.” The city cited 34 accounts of arrests/citations that had occurred within 300 feet surrounding the building and concluded that this was sufficient for establishing a “pattern of behavior in the neighborhood.”

St. Vincent de Paul responded to the city with possible suggestions on how to mitigate any harm to our neighbors in our mission of serving those in need. Our suggestions were found insufficient and the City filed their nuisance claim in court.

In an effort of cooperation, St. Vincent de Paul responded with a request for mediation so that a mutually agreeable plan could be worked out, enabling St. Vincent de Paul and the city of The Dalles to work together to help solve this community crisis. The city rejected our request.

With great sadness, the St. Vincent de Paul Society of The Dalles will temporarily close its ministry building at 315 West 3rd Street. Our decision to temporarily close was difficult, but necessary for us to negotiate with the city of The Dalles and hopefully avoid a costly legal trial. We understand that the most fragile in this community will be the ones who feel the most pain, and it is our hope that this action will lead to resolving the city’s concerns quickly. Our last day of operations, until further notice, will be January 5, 2024. We will close at 2:30 PM that day.

Please note that only the St. Vincent de Paul Ministry building will be closed; the St. Vinnie’s Thrift Store and Food Pantry located at 505 W. 9th Street will continue to operate as usual.

What We Do

The ministry began in the streets of Paris in the 1840s. Fredric Ozanam and fellow young college students founded what became the Society of St. Vincent DePaul in honor of St. Vincent DePaul, who was synonymous with charity. Their mission was to serve the poor of Paris. His thought was to best understand the nature of the poor, you had to meet them where they live and see from their eyes.  

Today Vincentians continue to meet the poor where they live and “only love” to meet their needs. Today we, with our partners Bread and Blessings and Community Meal, provide 12 Meals a week. We also offer showers, laundry service, gas, propane, prescription help, and with the help of St. Vinnies, supply clothing, linen, and household goods. Sometimes we are called to assist the homeless, fragily housed, and victims of violence or accident with utilities, emergency housing, and special needs, not available through other resources.

We work with Center for Living, One Community Health, Bridges to Change, Bridges to Health, Haven from Domestic Violence, Mid-Columbia Community Action, Mid-Columbia Housing Authority, Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities, and other community services to direct the homeless and damaged and displaced to services that can help them.

We work with the Salvation Army to provide back-to-school needs of kids and to provide for a merrier Christmas for those less fortunate. We also work to provide Christmas gifts for our homeless friends, with help from St. Vinnies and volunteers. Our Food Pantry supplies a shopping experience for those needing food and personal supplies.

Our mission has always been and will continue to be that everything we do promotes the dignity, self respect, and integrity of the people we serve, done in observance of justice and charity, and we bring neither bureaucracy, welfare nor pity, only love.

I just visited your website and made a $100 donation to your organization. Our family made it in honor of my sister’s May birthday.

Thank you for your many programs to support the under and un-served people in your area.

This is a nice place.  There are wonderful people who work there and volunteer.  They give people things to do to make them feel needed and a part of the community.  They treat everyone like a person.

This is the heart of the town for a lot of folks unfortunately. Meals, showers and laundry sign ups, vouchers for the thrift store for those who need a helping hand. Here you will see all walks of life whether by choice or by life’s hard knocks it’s here that you’ll find friendly people.  Give a shout out and some one will answer and if unable to help they will direct you to who they know will be able to help you.

Literally saved me this month.

Awesome community resource.

Why SVdP

When a member of our community is hungry, cold or hopeless, where do they turn? If they are like most in our community, they turn to St. Vincent de Paul – The Dalles.

Why? Because…

  • They will be treated like a real person by dedicated, compassionate volunteers in a warm, caring environment.
  • Food will be available through the St. Vincent de Paul Food bank where hundreds of our neighbors are being helped each month.
  • St. Vincent de Paul Ministry will help with other needs along with Bread and Blessings M-F mornings and Community Meals weekend evenings.
  • There will be warmth and hope at The Warming Place during the winter.
  • Their child will receive a special toy for the holidays and enjoy a traditional family dinner.

Your contributions helped us serve over 150 families last year during the holidays along with giving gifts to over 300 children. Your contributions helped us give out over 300 backpacks to children for the first day of school. Your contributions helped us serve thousands of meals last year. Your contributions helped keep 1044 guests warm and sheltered last winter. You are helping us touch the lives of thousands. Your gift is extremely important because it offers immediate resources that are directed to current needs such as updating the restrooms at The Warming Place which have been in continuous use since 1995 or helping children and families.

How We Help

st vincent de paul the dalles

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