We Need Your Help

Society of St. Vincent de Paul

“Let us do all the good we can, and trust to God for the rest.” -Blessed Frederic Ozanam, Society of St. Vincent de Paul Founder

A network of friends, inspired by gospel values, growing in holiness, and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need.

About SDVP

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded by six college students and an older mento in 1833. From those humble beginnings, it has grown to become a network of charity encircling the world.

Today, more than 800,000 members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul are serving those in need in their own communities in 152 countries.

Poverty and hardship can arrive suddenly, and with no warning. Most of our neighbors in need don’t want to ask for help. Many have no idea how it came to this. Members of the Society here in our parish personally visit our neighbors, pray with them, listen to them, and help in any way we can.

As the Rule of the Society says, “No work of charity is foreign to the Society.”

We Need Your Help!

First (and most importantly), pray for us, and for all our neighbors in need.

Everybody wants to help, but it is difficult to know where to begin. St. Vincent de Paul once said that the poor suffer less from a lack of generosity than from a lack of organization. Pray that we will find them, that we can help them, and that God will bless us in our works.

Second, please support our works with your donations.

It’s important to remember that the poor don’t only live in distant places. They live next door. You see them every day, whether you know it or not; on your street , in the grocery store, maybe sitting next to you at church. The poor look a lot like you and me.

Please donate whatever your heart leads you to give and whatever your budget permits. Your gift directly supports neighbors in need in your community—keeping the lights on, feeding a family, perhaps avoiding eviction.

Third, if you feel called, join us.

If you seek to live your faith through works, to “love God,” as St. Vincent de Paul said, “with the strength of your arms…”, please consider joining us. We serve the poor in charity, but we are not an “agency.”

While financial assistance is important, it is even more important to serve personally, showing our neighbors that God has not abandoned them, even in their darkest hours. He wants to help, loving them so much that He sends us to serve, to comfort, and to pray with them.

Our founder, Blessed Frederic Ozanam, taught that we should see the Face of Christ in those we serve. When they call, we answer; when they are in need, we help; not because they are “deserving,” but because they are suffering; not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic; because whatever we do for the least of our brothers, we do for Christ Himself.