Who We Are and What We Do

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) is a Catholic lay organization that was founded in Paris in 1833 in order to serves those in need. The volunteers of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul just happen to be regular Catholic folk who look out for their neighbors. They just happen to be part of the largest Catholic lay organization in the world, which just happens to be about 800,000 members strong. They just happen to come from all walks of life. But they all just happen to follow the same calling. And how did all this just happen to happen? When they heard the Lord’s call to serve, they responded, “yes.”

We call ourselves Vincentians because we follow the charism of a Catholic priest name Vincent de Paul who lived in France some 400 years ago. Charism is a fancy word to say how we carry out our faith. Fr. Vincent cared for the outcasts and the forgotten, the ones most people would not even notice if they lived or died, well, except for the Christ. You see, the most rejected of any society are the ones that God pays most attention to. You might ask why the people we help are so poor and why they’re in the situation they’re in. Good question. But instead of asking our neighbors about their mistakes, we simply ask how we can help them. We’re not trying to save the world, we’re just spreading God’s love, which might in the end just wind up saving the world.

We do all kinds of work. We visit our neighbors in their homes and we listen to them without judgment. We ask questions about how we can help them. We see the Christ present in them. We direct them to publics resources to help with paying overdue utility bills and we work with landlords to prevent eviction. We offer people a sense of hope.

Our funding comes mostly from our own Catholic parishes. We help anyone that we can; religious or ethnic background are not criteria that determine if we help or not. But we do carry out our due diligence and ask for documentation that supports the situation that has been described to the Vincentian volunteers.

Most Vincentian groups are based on parish affiliation. We call these groups “Conferences.” These Conferences usually meet a couple times a month to pray, to share fellowship and to discuss the circumstances of the neighbors who have asked for our help. Our work is confidential in that we do not share with anyone

outside of the Conference the details of who we help and how. The work is run by the laity, that’s to say, by the regular church folk and not the ordained ministers. Our Pope Francis and his predecessors have fervently supported this work since its inception in 1833.

This website is for the Northwest Philadelphia District of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. There are six Conferences that are part of this District. We support each our in our work to support our neighbors. These six Conferences are affiliated with the following six parishes in northwest Philadelphia: Immaculate Heart of Mary (Andorra), Our Lady of Hope (Logan), Our Mother of Consolation (Chestnut Hill), St. Athanasius (West Oak Lane), St. Bridget (East Falls) and St. Vincent de Paul (Germantown).

Some of our Conferences have food pantries. Some run turkey drives and most run clothing drives. Another even has a program to visit the elderly. As a District, one of our main ministries is a homeless outreach where a team of Vincentians from all over the Philadelphia area comes together on Saturdays to serve food to the homeless in center city and the Kensington areas of the city.  

If you are so inclined, we would be grateful for your support so that we can continue to serve our neighbors in need. You can donate by clicking on the “Donate Now” button on the bottom right of this page. And if your heart is so moved, a quiet prayer for our endeavors would do us a world of good as well.

God bless you and your loved ones!

Patrick Green,

President, Northwest Philadelphia District

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Our Main Program is FEEDING THE HOMELESS

St. Vincent de Paul, in conjunction with Caring for Friends, reaches out to the most vulnerable of Philadelphia every Saturday to provide some encouragement and a packed lunch. We have a team with  vehicles that fans out in the Center City and Kensington sections of the city. We often provide toiletries and clothing items as well.

Please select the DONATE NOW Button and make a much needed Donation.   Our goal is to raise $5000. This will enable us to obtain some basic necessities for those who call the streets home.

GOD BLESS YOU!