About SVDP
Imagine you lose your job, become homeless, have an accident, suddenly become gravely ill, suffer from domestic abuse, need to care for your children as a single parent, suffer the loss of a family member or a crisis like the Covid pandemic brings havoc to your finances. This sounds like a lot of bad luck, but each year many people in Framingham go through all this suffering.
The society of St. Vincent de Paul is dedicated to alleviating this suffering by offering help with food, furniture, clothing, necessary house items, car repair, bikes for transportation, help with medical bills, funeral bills, job license renewal, and other needs. In addition to the help mentioned above we also help people with prayer books, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, scholarships for Catholic schools, and information about other agencies that could help. As Vincentians our goal is to help and love people in need as Jesus taught us and see the face of Christ in them.
The society offers tangible assistance to those in need on a person-to-person basis, which distinguishes this society from other nonprofit organizations. When assistance is requested, two Vincentians make a home visit. Home visits allow Vincentians to provide emotional and spiritual support to our neighbors in need, as well as an opportunity to better understand their individual circumstances, struggles, and needs. After the visit, the case is presented to the Conference so a determination can be made as to the assistance provided. All information is handled with strict confidentiality.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 in France by Blessed Frederic Ozanam inspired by the Gospel values and the work of Saint Vincent de Paul. The society operates in over 4,200 locations offering person -to-person services to the needy and suffering. The Saint Vincent de Paul Society groups operate within parishes and are called conferences. In our case we are the Saint Stephen conference. We are dedicated to helping people in our parish and the area surrounding it in the city of Framingham.
“No work of charity is foreign to the Society. It includes any form of help that alleviates suffering or deprivation and promotes human dignity and personal integrity in all their dimensions. It strives to seek out and find those in need and the forgotten, the victims of exclusion or adversity. Faithful to the spirit of its founders, the Society constantly strives for renewal, adapting to changing world conditions. It seeks to be ever aware of the changes that occur in human society and the new types of poverty that may be identified or anticipated. It gives priority to the poorest of the poor and to those who are most rejected by a community.”