Daily Prayer for Friday, December 17, 2021:
In imitation of You, Lord Jesus,
May I give of myself each day.
May I act with humble simplicity,
And with gentle, patient kindness.
Amen
Daily Prayer for Friday, December 17, 2021:
In imitation of You, Lord Jesus,
May I give of myself each day.
May I act with humble simplicity,
And with gentle, patient kindness.
Amen
Dear Vincentians,
Disaster Services Corporation (DSC) is coordinating its response to the recent devastating tornado outbreak in six states with its South Central, Midwest, North Central, Mideast, and Southeast Disaster Representatives which are part of the DSC Board’s Disaster Operations Committee. DSC is monitoring to meet the needs of survivors by working through state, local, and tribal governments and is actively coordinating with affected states to address unmet needs. We are on daily VOAD calls and conducting Coordination Calls with the Disaster Reps in the regions where the tornados hit.
DSC works through its Disaster Operations Committee and its Regional Committee Members for all disaster relief and recovery efforts. Our Regional Disaster Reps work with their local Vincentian Councils and Conferences, the local Diocese, and the state VOADs to determine the unmet needs of the impacted disaster areas. Disaster recovery takes years, and it is important to have funding for the second stages of disasters like the Parish Recovery Assistance Centers (PRACs) which help disaster survivors get registered for state and federal benefits and where Vincentians can provide spiritual and emotional care. DSC will be providing Rapid Response Grants to Councils that have unmet needs and are working to help their Diocese recover from this very tragic series of tornados.
Please continue to pray for all the families impacted by disasters during this Advent Season and if possible, please volunteer or donate to the relief efforts.
DSC Response Actions
Staying Weather Aware and Safe Before, During, and After Tornadoes
Residents from east-central Mississippi to extreme southwestern Virginia should stay vigilant as this storm system moves east. Damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes will be possible, mainly early in the day. Isolated strong wind gusts cannot be ruled out over parts of the Mid-Atlantic during the late afternoon and evening.
In any emergency, always follow the instructions given by state, local or tribal emergency management officials. Follow these tips to stay safe after a tornado.
Avoid Carbon Monoxide Poisoning:
If you lost power, avoid carbon monoxide poisoning and fires.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact Disaster Services Corporation:
Follow Us
Follow DSC on social media at: @svdpusadisaster on Twitter, @DisasterServicesCorp Facebook, , and via @disastersericescorp on LinkedIn.
DSC Mission
To model the charism of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul by providing quality programs and services to families and communities impacted by natural and manmade disasters across this great nation.
In Service,
Elizabeth Disco-Shearer
Chief Executive Officer
Disaster Service Corporation
Daily Prayer for Thursday, December 16, 2021:
What did I come here to see, Lord?
Why have I come to Mass?
To see Your suffering, hung like art,
In the Stations of the Cross?
What did I come here to see, Lord?
Why do I visit the poor?
To see Your suffering, see Your face,
In the neighbors that I serve?
My living God in the Eucharist,
My salvation in Your poor,
My living God that I may serve;
That’s what I’ve come to see.
Amen
With 100,000 Vincentians across the United States and nearly 800,000 around the world, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul provides person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering. Read some of their stories here:
Help us share the good news of the good work being done in your local Conference or Council! Email us at info@svdpusa.org with the subject line Good News.
As we wrap up the calendar year, Vincentians are focused on the usual food pantries, plus food and gift distributions over the holiday period. I imagine that half a million turkeys alone will be distributed by our members this month. No, we won’t capture this data in the annual reports!
While some of the charity mechanics remain as they have in the past, we have several pandemic-required innovations in place that differ according to your state, county, or city. These make us pause and think as well of how different almost everything was in 2021, and ask what next year will hold for us as Americans, Catholics, and Vincentians.
When we evaluate, most of us think first of all the negatives. We lost family and friends to COVID. The resulting economy is uncertain right now. The Church has its own crises. Religious freedoms, and some of the Catholic causes we care so much about, are under attack in both the legislative and public forums. That’s not the entire list, and you probably have a few items to add from your own experiences.
In our work for the nation’s families in need, we feel the pain when the prices of automobile gasoline, home heating, and food rise due to inflation, supply chain issues, and other rationales. Most of us see the costs of our grocery bill rise, complain a bit and then go on with our day. For someone in poverty, that increase is a sharper pain that affects their sustainability. A dollar more a gallon for gas over the past year is an unstated, regressive tax on the poor. General inflation hurts everyone’s ability to get ahead, but it hurts poor families more severely.
All of this points us as Vincentians back to the long term promise of systemic change. We can pay rent bills just as we hand out turkeys for Christmas. The rent is due again next month, and the family will be hungry again when the last bowl of turkey soup is eaten. The poverty not-so-merry-go-round continues, and it takes extra effort to get off – for the poor and for us servants to them, too.
Many of our Society Conferences and Councils had a good financial year in 2021. This gives us a stronger opportunity to re-think our activities and strategies for the year ahead. If we develop financial literacy education, trade skills job training and placement, alternatives to predatory lending, and our other systemic change tools, the people we serve won’t need to be dependent next year on holiday handouts. They will be better able to provide for themselves, creating a better holiday for all of us. Really, wouldn’t that be the best possible Thanksgiving and Christmas, to know that more families don’t need the Society of St. Vincent de Paul or the local government to provide for them?
In January we start new diets, new exercise programs, and other new annual goals for ourselves. Let’s take time in our first Conference meetings to take just as hard a look at ourselves as Vincentians, our programs, finances, and most importantly our goals for the people we served this holiday season. Yes, the outside world will have its challenges as it does in every year. What can we do differently to make life better than it is right now for those we just served over the holidays? More of the same, or perhaps some completely different actions?
Holiday charity is good and Vincentian. Reducing the need for it is so Vincentian too, isn’t it?
May you have a blessed Christmas Season and an inspired New Year!
Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO
Daily Prayer for Wednesday, December 15, 2021:
God in Heaven, God on earth,
From God I shall not part,
God Who comforts sorrows,
God within my heart,
God of endless glory,
God Whose Son was raised,
God, the Holy Spirit,
I gladly sing Your praise!
Amen
At the age of seven, I began my lifelong journey of service as an altar server at St. Luke Catholic Church in River Forest, IL. I remember the purpose and pride I felt in being a part of the Church and the feeling that it brought me closer to God. Since then, I have endeavored to continue to find meaningful ways to serve God and my community.
One such opportunity came in 2019, when I joined the Disaster Services Corporation as the Chief Operating Officer. Over the past three years, I’ve come to learn much about what it is to be a Vincentian and to be a part of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Never have I met more dedicated people serving the most vulnerable through Christ.
For those who are unaware, the Disaster Services Corporation is the disaster arm of the National Council . After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Society responded to the needs of Katrina survivors, developing a long-term recovery plan and coordinating with other agencies to locate necessary resources and ongoing support. For several years thereafter, the nation looked to the Society to provide more and more support in the face of frequent and severe disasters.
In 2017, the Disaster Services Corporation was founded to meet the needs of the nation and to provide disaster relief at a scale we had never seen. Given the reputation of the Society’s work in disaster relief, the federal government sought out Vincentians to augment support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and began to award millions of dollars’ worth of federal contracts to help communities recover. Recognizing the importance of these opportunities, the National Council made the prudent decision to create Disaster Services Corporation as a wholly owned subsidiary to fulfill the Society’s disaster mission, while minimizing the risk and liability to the National Council.
Disaster Services Corporation strives to achieve a unity of effort with the National Council in fundraising activities, Council and Conference support, and messaging to the Vincentian community and the nation. Disaster Services Corporation, in partnership and with guidance and oversight from the National Council, has had a monumental impact on Vincentians and the nation, managing over $15,000,000 in federal and state contracts and provided over $100,000,000 in value of services. In 2021 alone, Disaster Services Corporation served communities in California, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin in response to floods, hurricanes, winter storms, wildfires, the pandemic, and the Afghan Refugee Resettlement efforts.
To effectively respond to the needs of so many communities nationwide, the Disaster Services Corporation relies on its robust Disaster Operations Committee, comprised of regional and state Vincentian representation, and in partnership with the National Council’s National Vice Presidents, to grant Councils and Conferences Rapid Response and Long-Term Recovery Grants. This committee regularly trains with FEMA, National VOAD, and other disaster relief organizations to ensure a holistic and integrated disaster response and recovery.
The Disaster Services Corporation also provides Council and Conference Support, including preparedness, response, and recovery online and in-person trainings. This year alone, Disaster Services Corporation supported the Archdiocesan Council of New Orleans with a hurricane simulation, the Council of Rockford with a tornado simulation, and trained Council and Conference leadership from across the nation at the National Assembly.
The work we do is important, and I’ve seen the outcomes first-hand. This past spring, Disaster Services Corporation deployed to the poorest communities of Kentucky to set up Parish Recovery Assistance Centers (PRAC) to provide Walmart gift cards, food and nutrition products, cleaning supplies, and stewardship to those families requiring FEMA support.
I remember the day when a mother and her child Sawyer visited the Disaster Services Corporation PRAC and spent two hours talking with Vincentians and receiving the resources and support they needed to begin their family’s recovery. An hour or so later, I went to the local Walmart, where there was a Subway, to get lunch for our Vincentian volunteers. As I walked in, I saw the mother, with little Sawyer in the shopping cart, along with groceries and diapers, that were being bought with the gift cards we had provided no more than an hour earlier. I reflect on that experience often, thinking that we never truly know how desperate people are, and feeling the pride that through the National Council, Disaster Services Corporation was able to be there to help a neighbor in their very real time of need.
Disaster Services Corporation not only has an impact on disaster survivors, but also on our Vincentians. One volunteer’s experience who answered the call to serve during the West Virginia floods in particular stands out, sharing his experience through a day in the life of a Vincentian volunteer. Recounting his experience, he wrote, “Bright and early, had breakfast, let’s head to the site. Rural southwestern WV looks a lot like where I live. Small community center. Ok let’s get eight tables and some chairs, this is how we get set up. Ok, first disaster survivor. My what a story they have about the flood. Household income? What!? A family can live on this small amount? These people need all the help they can get. But they are smiling, thankful, and appreciative. How can anyone be in such a good mood, when their lives have been torn up so bad? Reminds me of our opening prayer…Where two or three gather in my name…I felt Jesus watching down, smiling that we were doing his work here on Earth.”
To conclude, I want to share a passage that has guided me throughout my life. “Your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say, “But I was told by others to do thus.” Or that, “Virtue was not convenient at the time.” When I think about this passage, I can’t help to think how it relates to the important work and sacrifice of our Vincentians and how I remain grateful and honored to be a part of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul family through the Disaster Services Corporation.
Conferences, following the example of St. Vincent de Paul, are expected to keep detailed and accurate records of contributions, donors, and assistance provided to neighbors in need, and to report them periodically to their Councils. There can be a temptation, looking back on the numbers, to puff up our chests about all the good that we’ve done, but these reports are only a testament to accountability; they are not a measure of the success, much less the value, of our works.
Writing about the loss of the earliest records of the first Conference in 1835, Bl. Frédéric mused that while those records might have been a source of pride, “God, who wishes that the left hand not know what the right hand has given, permitted us to lose title to what might serve only to bestow on us ridiculous vanity.” [Letter 90, to Curnier, 1835]
“Charity,” he continued, “must never look behind it, but always before, because the number of its past benefits is always very small, and the present and future misery it solaces is infinite.”
In his Circular Letter of 1837, Secretary-General François Lallier (one of the Society’s founders, and a close friend of Frédéric’s) sounded a similar note, describing those that “throw at random a few handfuls of money that the poor despise as mere crumbs and are of no avail.” [VHJ, Vol 36, Iss 1]
Works of charity are works of love; we measure their value first in our own transformation; our growing closer to Christ. Through this, we also hope to draw others closer to Christ; “to stir up irresistible questions” by our witness, as Pope St. Paul VI said. “Why are they like this? Why do they live in this way? What or who is it that inspires them?” [Evangelii nuntiandi, 21]
Christ Himself recognized that the smallest of material contributions can be the very largest when they are the most that we can give. And as Our Rule teaches, “our tender interest, our very manner, will give to our alms a value which they do not possess in themselves.” [Rule, 1835 Intro]
Our Conference Annual Reports, of course, are vital documents. They represent our commitment to accountability – to each other, to our donors, to tax laws, and most importantly to God Himself, who calls us to this ministry. But the totals at the bottom of the page, whether they are large or small, represent only our circumstance, not the degree of our success.
As Lallier explained, we “offer very little, because we are little and because true charity is always poor like those whom it relieves. But we have the charity of the heart that can multiply our mite a hundredfold, and the poor who feel such things welcome us with honour.” [VHJ, Vol 36, Iss 1]
Do I ever feel ashamed when I can’t “do more?” Am I tempted to boast about how much we’ve “spent?”
The Rule – especially Part I
With 100,000 Vincentians across the United States and nearly 800,000 around the world, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul provides person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering. Read some of their stories here:
Help us share the good news of the good work being done in your local Conference or Council! Email us at info@svdpusa.org with the subject line Good News.
We are now firmly in the season of family and friends. This year feels extra special, as we may be with people who could not be with us for many pandemic months. Whether it is at a holiday party, family dinner or a large-group holiday service activity, we will all be asked first, did COVID affect us and our family? Secondly, we will be asked what’s new in our lives since the last time we have been together. That question, my friends, presents us with opportunities.
While many Vincentians simply did what was needed, often in extraordinary fashion, to keep serving our neighbors in need, we may have taken ourselves and our service a bit for granted. Certainly those served did not do so! As so many government and nonprofit services were delayed, shut down or otherwise hampered, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul remained active, visible, and welcomed in our communities. Please don’t take your flexibility and innovation for granted. Rather, please share the experience with your friends and family. It’s quite a success story!
Vincentians are a humble lot, so it may feel awkward to talk about this. Nonetheless we need to remind others that their donations and prayers were put to work effectively despite the challenges. They need to know that some of those necessary innovations will even be used beyond the pandemic period to be new, lasting procedures that will provide services that are more effective, safer, and possibly more efficient – all while maintaining our relationships with people in poverty.
Then we get to Step Two. We are once again together in person, while the Christmas season brings an elevated care level for those who are less fortunate, and when your Vincentian innovation stories and downright stubbornness to maintain your charitable works have their attention. Now is the perfect time to invite others to join us.
It is also the time when we may need this recruiting more than ever. We simply don’t know yet how many Vincentians won’t return to serve after the pandemic. Some changed their volunteer habits, some decided perhaps to “retire” from Vincentian service, and some are unable or afraid to serve once more. Even without all this, the Society needs to replenish its membership constantly. This year, though, we need to devote extra attention to this endeavor.
If you can recall when you joined the Society, chances are that someone asked you personally to join. Most don’t join because of an article in the Parish bulletin! Now it’s our turn. Many in our Parish don’t know which parishioners are Vincentians, much less what we do. At this giving season, this is the time to be more visible. Some of this happens naturally with holiday meal and Christmas gift programs, but can we do more? Visibility can then lead to questions and invitations.
Let’s return to the family and friend gatherings, this year on a personal mission to ask someone to join us in our work to show and see the face of Christ in our Vincentian experiences with those in need. We have a receptive, somewhat captive audience around the dinner table. We know deep inside that our Vincentian work is needed and valued. We know that God has called us each to serve. Maybe He is calling us as well to ask others to serve alongside us.
Every Vincentian journey begins with an invitation. Who will you invite this holiday season to join us?
Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO
Gregg Colburn is the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed University Professor and Associate Professor in the Runstad Department of Real Estate in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. He publishes research on topics related to housing and homelessness and is co-author of the book, Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns. Gregg is also co-author of the recently released book, Affordable Housing in the United States. His research has been featured in leading media outlets, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, and National Public Radio.
Gregg holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, and a M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Prior to academia, he worked as an investment banker and private equity professional. At the University of Washington, Gregg teaches classes in housing, urban economics, and finance. Gregg serves as co-chair of the University of Washington’s Homelessness Research Initiative and is a member of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Research Council.
Andrew Abela is the founding dean of the Busch School of Business and Ordinary Professor of Marketing at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. He is a faculty affiliate at the Harvard University Human Flourishing Program and a Contributor at Forbes.com. His research on the integrity of the marketing process, including marketing ethics, Catholic Social Doctrine, and internal communication, has been published in several academic journals, including the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of Markets & Morality, and in two books. He is the winner of the 2009 Novak Award, a $10,000 prize given by the Acton Institute for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.” His two most recent books are Super Habits: The Universal System for a Successful Life from Sophia Press and A Catechism for Business from Catholic University Press.
Dr. Abela also provides consulting and training in internal communications to Fortune 100 corporations. Prior to his academic career, he spent several years in industry as brand manager at Procter & Gamble, management consultant with McKinsey & Company, and Managing Director of the Marketing Leadership Council of the Corporate Executive Board. He holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, an MBA from the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, and a Ph.D. in Marketing and Ethics from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia. He and his wife, Kathleen, have six children, three of whom (so far) have graduated from Catholic U.
140 North 4th Street
Louisville, KY 40202
SVdP Group Rate: $179 per room, per night, plus taxes. To book a room at The Galt House, you can use this booking link: The Galt House Hotel. Group rate expires, August 1, 2025!
Rooms booked under the group block are eligible for a discount of $10 off of self-parking the parking discount or $10 for self-parking. Current self-parking rate is $30 per day.
Located in downtown Louisville, the hotel is approximately 9 miles from Louisville International Airport (SDF).
Transportation is available from the airport to The Galt House via Taxi, Uber, Lyft.
Southwest Airlines is pleased to offer 2025 SVdP National Assembly attendees discounted fares. To utilize the discount, book via SWABIZ® using this link. Discount valid for travel 8/23/2025 to 9/2/2025.
Stephanie Land’s bestselling debut memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive recounts her harrowing saga as a single mom navigating the poverty trap. It depicts her life at age 28 when she and her seven month-old have to move into a homeless shelter fleeing a violent home, begins the bureaucratic nightmare of applying for food stamps and subsidized housing, and starts cleaning houses for $9/hour. Her unflinching testimony exposes the physical, economic, and social brutality that domestic workers face, all while radiating a parent’s hope and dedication.
Praised for its raw portrayal of poverty and systemic inequality, Maid inspired the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Netflix series of the same name, reaching over 67 million households, in which Land served as an executive producer on the show. Her follow-up memoir, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education, continues her story as a single mother navigating college and poverty.
Land writes on economic justice, domestic abuse, and motherhood, with work featured in major outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic. She is a fellow at the Center for Community Change and an ambassador for the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She is currently working on her third book, The Privilege to Feel.