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01-28-21 Letter From Our Servant Leaders
01-28-21 Letter From Our Servant Leaders 600 685 SVDP USA

Dear Vincentian Friends,

I really was not looking for another way to spend my retirement days. Being your National
Council President is a privilege that is already fulfilling and time-consuming. When asked,
however, to join the Board of Directors of the Council General International as the Vice
President with responsibility for Solidarity and Special Projects, I accepted because I
understand the importance of working to strengthen that worldwide network of charity imagined
by our founder Blessed Frédéric Ozanam.

Building on the work of U.S. Council representatives Terry Wilson and Edward Keane, who
served under past Council General President, Michael Thio, our current President General,
Renato Lima de Oliveira, has also appointed other United States Vincentians to serve in the
Society’s international structure. Let me introduce them:

  • Michael Nizankiewicz – International Territorial Vice President for America 1
  • Frank Voehl – Zone 1 Coordinator for America 1
  • Kat Brissette – Youth Territorial Delegate America 1
  • Bill Brazier – Commission for International Aid and Development
  • Dave Barringer – Chair of International Logo Commission
  • Edward Keane – Chair of the United Nations Department
  • Patricia Hughes – Member on the United Nations Department
  • Donald Kany – International Vincentian Family Haiti Initiative

This participation by our United States Vincentians is very different from what I observed
during my early years in the Society. Our National Council President always had a position on
the International Executive Committee, and many Conferences did Twinning. Overall, however,
we U.S. Vincentians did not pay much attention to what happened beyond our borders. It
would also be fair to say the Society’s international structure until recently was very Europecentered and did not pay much attention to us either. We have much to learn from our
worldwide network, and we have some very good best practices that we are sharing as well.

Each of you can directly experience this global Vincentian network and make my new role a
little easier by having your conference participate in International Twinning. When you partner
with a Conference in another country, you will be in communication with brothers and sisters
working in their parishes and trying to meet needs in their communities. You will learn how
much we have in common and understand some of the challenges Vincentians elsewhere face
as they live out our common vocation. Sharing in an understanding of our Vincentian work
beyond our own national borders is a tradition that dates to the early years of our Society.

I encourage you to continue working with Elizabeth Martinez, our National Council Twinning
Coordinator, to partner with Conferences that have requested assistance through our Council
General Office in Paris. There are many Conferences waiting to be assigned to a partner.
Please do not send aid directly to any international project except through our National Council
Office. The international projects we support through the National Council have been
investigated and prioritized. Beyond the need to ensure accountability for use of the funds,
there are regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that we need to
follow.

Finally, and most importantly, please pray for our sister and brother Vincentians working in
difficult and sometimes dangerous places. I have been privileged to meet some of their leaders
and to hear their stories. To provide their members spiritual support and friendship, they hold
Conference meetings like we do. Just like us, they never have sufficient resources to serve
their neighbors in need fully. And they take the same Vincentian journey, pray the same
prayers and follow the same Rule we do. With them, we are “One Society,” serving in hope.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
National Council President

Tim Tebow visits St. Vincent de Paul
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Society of St. Vincent de Paul Announces New Partnership With Kindli
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Announces New Partnership With Kindli 1977 1249 SVDP USA

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is pleased to announce a new partnership with Kindli, a “social unity” app that puts the focus squarely on kindness and positivity.

Cofounded by Martin Diamond and athletes Tim Tebow, Kerri Walsh Jennings, and Titus O’Neil, Kindli’s mission is the creation of a social media platform that creates a sustainable movement to affect positive change.

Kindli aims to change the divisiveness of traditional social media platforms have enabled by unifying and motivating users through expertly curated daily kindness videos. In addition, it celebrates and shares the kind acts of real people by giving a home to the “Pay It Forward” movement through its innovative Kindli Cards™ and Kindli street team.

Kindli aims to generate and track over one billion acts of kindness around the world while raising one billion dollars for charities, including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Kindli makes kindness easy, providing a online safe community that automatically eliminates fake accounts and silences users with malicious intent, and enforces strict content guidelines that don’t allow for politics, hate speech, violence, racism, or bullying.

Kindli’s smartphone app is available for download from the App Store and Google Play.

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Disaster Services Volunteer Training
Disaster Services Volunteer Training 940 788 SVDP USA

The Disaster Services Corporation provides person-to-person recovery services to families impacted by man-made and natural disasters across the United States and U.S. territories.

Please join DSC CEO Elizabeth Disco-Shearer for a special volunteer training opportunity this Thursday, January 28, from 12:00 – 1:12 PM Central, on learning to protect the Personal Identifiable Information of Disaster Survivors.

Topics Include 
  •    Understanding your responsibility as a volunteer
  •     Learning about the Privacy Act
  •    Gaining knowledge on how to safely transmit data
  •     Reviewing DSC’s requirements for protecting the data of survivors.

Participants should register in advance by clicking here.

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01-22-21 News Roundup
01-22-21 News Roundup 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Click the stories below to learn more about how Vincentians are serving their neighbors in need, across the U.S. and around the world.

International
National
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01-21-21 Letter From Our Servant Leaders
01-21-21 Letter From Our Servant Leaders 150 150 SVDP USA

A spouse of many years asks, “Do you love me?” The other spouse answers, “Of course I do, I told you at the wedding!”

Laugh or shake your head if you like, but this is often the relationship we have with our local pastors and perhaps even with our Bishop.

While our Society year began in October, every January is a time to look at new goals. One that should be high on a Conference and Council list is to renew and improve the relationship we have with clergy. After all, let’s remember that the Society operates only with the invitation of our Bishop and parish pastor. We can’t take this for granted.

If ever there was a year to update each party, this is it! Our beloved clergy members at all levels continue to struggle with the Church’s sexual abuse claims and aftermath which has threatened our faith in its membership, finances and maybe most of all, basic trust. This was chased off of the media front pages only because of the even worse pandemic crisis. We still have lifelong Catholics who aren’t able out of health or fear, or allowed by the Church or secular authorities, to return to pray in their local church. They can’t share their faith or the good works resulting from it. They can’t, or for whatever reasons don’t, contribute financially to the parish. Parish fundraisers are cancelled, Mass times disappear or are changed, and we can’t even offer each other a sign of peace.

Meanwhile the Conference presses on. We meet virtually, which is nice but dampens our Essential Element, Friendship. We hold Home Visits not in the home but through phone calls, and electronically send rent and utilities payments on behalf of those we serve. We give food though contactless deliveries. Whether for better or worse, no doubt we aren’t the same Society we were a year ago.

In all of this change and often turmoil, any relationships may suffer including those in our own homes and those with our friends and neighbors. Likewise, our clergy relationships suffer from the basic reduction of contacts over time. This means we need to be more intentional in our scheduling and communications to maintain this critical mutual support. We can no longer count on a chance meeting with our priests in the hallway, at our functions, or even after Mass to update each other on our plans and activities.

During this pandemic and other challenges, the Church may need us more than ever. We sometimes focus our clergy conversations and reports on our activities in serving the poor during this time of illness and unemployment. Yet our mission is based on helping people get closer to God. Increasing the spirituality of fellow parishioners – and everyone else – should be a central part of our clergy messaging and ongoing relationships. Even in more settled, good times a priest can directly reach only so many people. We as a group of Vincentians can reach so many more! Evangelization is a central part of our charism.

Let’s not discount those services, however. It’s hard to find a parish that has enough priests, sisters and deacons to serve the poor on their own! The smarter clergy count on the Society as an extremely valuable layperson outreach and services tool for the Church to demonstrate its care and feeding of the flock. Yes, we are an independent entity. The poor, though, often see us as an extension of the parish, and that’s not a distinction we need to correct in order to help a family.

We often think that a priest knows all about us, our works and mission, our Rule, and even how we operate our finances. Many Conference Presidents are laughing as they read this, because these are often the root causes of challenging clergy relationships. A Bishop once said to me that, “it’s amazing what they don’t teach us in Seminary.” This lack of information very often includes anything at all about the Society’s purpose, works and potential value to the pastor.

Please don’t assume that your clergy, including your Bishop, knows what they need to understand and support you. Like all of us, they learn from their experiences. If their previous parishes did not include a Conference, or they never worked directly with us, perceptions of us may look quite different from one priest to another.

As Vincentians we seek to get closer to God, and this may take many forms. Let’s begin with a renewed, intentional, and continuing conversation with our local priest. Let’s explore how we can serve together for the Lord!

Yours in Christ,

Dave Barringer, CEO

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Midyear Meeting Update
Midyear Meeting Update 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Out of an abundance of caution for everyone’s health, our 2021 Midyear Business Meeting, March 3 – 6 will be a virtual program. Registration opening soon! This year’s agenda will include a Spiritual Retreat, Workshops, Board of Directors and Business Meetings, Disaster Services Training, as well as a special event presentation and Virtual Vendor Showcase.

The annual Midyear Meeting is a Governance and training event designed for National Council Members (the Presidents of the Diocesan Council or “top” District Council per Diocese), Executive Directors and other current or prospective Council leaders. However the Midyear, especially a virtual one, is open to all interested Vincentians! Check out the agenda when available and attend the sessions and workshops where you have interest.

Voting at the National Business Meeting, to be held virtually on Saturday March 6 from 10 AM – 12:30 PM Central is restricted to National Council Members, but again anyone may attend the Zoom call.

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01-14-21 Letter From Our Servant Leaders
01-14-21 Letter From Our Servant Leaders 500 500 SVDP USA

We do not need (or even want!) to be reminded of the unusual year we have faced in 2020: A pandemic, economic crisis, and societal turmoil from racial injustices. Yet amidst it all, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has offered a steady hand to our most vulnerable neighbors, providing food, rent assistance, utility payments, the list goes on and on. Thankfully, in the worst of time, the Society shines. With nearly 100,000 Vincentians in the United States alone, we are ready and willing to step in.

Among those we are serving, our sisters and brothers returning home from incarceration are facing many barriers and obstacles, often without family or resources to fall back on. Up to one third of our Home Visit contacts have a formerly incarcerated individual in their household. Sadly, years of systemic racism have profoundly impacted the struggles, evidenced in the disproportionate numbers of Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples bearing the brunt of inequities in the criminal justice system. Addressing this myriad of concerns through the Society calls us as Vincentians to form a “network of Reentry,” to borrow a phrase from Frédéric Ozanam: “I would like to embrace the whole world in a network of charity.”

St. Vincent de Paul has already responded with the typical creativity that we are known for. Immersion and Back2Work were designed to work in tandem to address the special needs of those returning from incarceration, “returning citizens.” Utilizing the strength of our many Conferences, our community partnerships, ability to access resources, we walk with each neighbor on their journey home. Right now, we have these programs in four different Councils across the country.

Now, in a hopefully “post-COVID-19” world, we are challenged to be even better organized and consistent in our approach. A “network of Reentry” has already been conceived in the National Reentry Task Force (NRTF). We have an opportunity to grow our Task Force to form a new vision, to provide invigorated and integrated services to returning citizens everywhere. By providing mentoring, job training, education, advocacy, restorative justice and more, we can help bring healing to our sisters and brothers and communities.

Please take a moment to prayerfully discern: Are you being called to this Reentry ministry? Consider how you can help us in this shared mission. Who in your Council or Region is already serving the formerly incarcerated? Who has a passion for restorative justice? Can you help us bring a new vision to the National Reentry Task Force?

As the Society of St. Vincent de Paul we are uniquely qualified, indeed gifted, to help meet the many challenges our returning citizens are facing. Together, we can begin to participate in the building up of the Kingdom of God within our truly Vincentian charism, embracing a “network of Reentry.”

In Christ’s faith,

Marian Lamoureux

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New Youth Conference: Queen of Angels Youth in Chicago
New Youth Conference: Queen of Angels Youth in Chicago 1200 900 SVDP USA

Queen of Angels SVDP Youth Group and some 8th grade confirmandi helped with the holiday food distribution. They set up  tables, sorted groceries into departments including 20 cases of fresh produce and personal items like toilet paper and diapers.   As our client families arrived youth assisted in helping to select and carry.

Setting up  grocery store style allows those we serve the dignity of selecting items they want and need rather than receiving a random assortment which may not agree with their cultural preferences. Afterwards the youth helped to clean up and discard empty boxes.

The youth really made the connection of serving those in need while allowing for dignity of the person being served. Over 71  families were served.

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Mary Kate Truss Shares A Special Blessing
Mary Kate Truss Shares A Special Blessing 1200 929 SVDP USA

Being blessed with the amazing opportunity to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for World Youth Day was an experience I will never forget. The memories and friendships made in Brazil are ones I will cherish for the rest of my life.  Having just graduated from high school a mere 4 weeks before leaving for World Youth Day, I was excited to travel and begin my life as an adult. I was preparing to venture out in the world, after twelve years of Catholic education, and attend my first public school at the University of North Florida.  World Youth Day provided me an opportunity to witness how other cultures celebrate the Catholic faith, which was the spiritual boost I  would need to continue on my faith journey.

Traveling out of the country, to what seemed like a whole new world to me, was a little intimidating at first. However, once I was in the midst of hundreds of Vincentians that first week in Belo Horziante at the St. Vincent de Paul gathering, all my worries melted away and were replaced with a joy and fire for my faith that I had not experienced before.
I met all these wonderful people, not only from different parts of the United States, but also from Scotland, Ireland, and parts of Brazil. The several different cultures were revealed to one another in the trading of wrist bands.  Each country had a wrist band that we would trade, as we shared a piece of who we were with our fellow brothers/sisters in Christ.  I could not wait to travel to Rio to meet even more people and learn about more different cultures.

Once we arrived in Rio de Janerio, the reality hit me – I was about to see Pope Francis in person!  After several activities preparing our hearts and minds for the actual World Youth Day, the festivities began.  Several catechesis were held each day that opened little doors in my heart, inviting the Holy Spirit in and preparing me for the Holy Father.  Hearing several Cardinals speak was very eye-opening. Cardinal Dolan spoke one of the days and truly opened my eyes to the purpose of World Youth Day.  It is about allowing Christ to work through us and be His hands and feet. Being an 18 year old girl in our society waiting for “Mr. Right” can be a little discouraging. The catechesis was about how we must prepare ourselves first and completely fall in love with our faith before we can let somebody else into our hearts. That statement really gave me a peace and understanding that everything will work out in God’s time. I must prepare myself and trust that God has a plan.

Getting the opportunity to be included in the 5% of 3 million pilgrims to see the spectacular Christ the Redeemer statue was such a blessing. I fell speechless when I saw Christ peeking through the fog, standing over Rio, with His arms open wide.  It made me even more excited and on fire for what was in store in the coming days. As the day arrived when Pope Francis was coming, I could not describe the joy I felt in my heart! He drove by in his humble jeep, waving to all of his children. What struck me most was how he acclaimed he was here for us.  He came to see us! I just broke down in tears. The humility of Pope Francis was pure beauty.

We had the opportunity to see him again in a much more personal setting when we awaited him outside of Rio’s cathedral, where he was saying Mass. I ended up being just five feet from him! I could not help but just watch him as he drove by, humbly waving to all of us; with a joy radiating from him that was definitely a joy coming from Christ.

After a lengthy, yet beautiful five mile pilgrimage through the city and onto Copacabana Beach, we were blessed with the opportunity of Adoration with Pope Francis. It was in the moment of Matt Maher singing “Lord I Need You” that I really felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. It struck me how much I really do need Christ in every single aspect of my life. I could feel and knew this amazing fire for the Catholic faith would stay with me. We all need Christ, every single one of us. The trip concluded with a Mass with Pope Francis – again another event that I will treasure in my heart.

I realize how blessed I have been with the Catholic faith being passed down to me through my ancestors. I am even more blessed that I had this opportunity to deepen and enhance my faith with this trip to World Youth Day.  I cannot wait to spread this fire in my heart onto the generations to come. God Bless.

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01-15-21 News Roundup
01-15-21 News Roundup 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Vincentians across the country and around the world continue to serve their communities in the midst of the pandemic. Click the stories below to learn more about their work to help neighbors in need.

International

Ireland: Car draw raises €260,000 for SVP
New Zealand: Give it a Go: Helping out with the Vinnies’ goodwill efforts

National

Baton Rouge, LA: St. Vincent de Paul accepting clients as temps drop, in need of donations 
Cincinnati, OH: SVdP Cincinnati Ozanam Center for Service Learning to Host MLK Day 2021 for area High Schoolers
Medford, OR: St. Vincent volunteer receives community award
New Orleans, LA: SVdP New Orleans Hosting Systemic Change Symposium
Omaha, NE: Catholic social teaching on community: We were meant to live, grow and flourish together

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