Thriftmas

How SVdP’s first woman National President transformed the organization

Long before women formally held national leadership roles in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, they were already deeply woven into its mission – serving neighbors in need, organizing charitable works, and quietly strengthening the Society’s spiritual foundation. Over time, that commitment helped open doors for women to shape the Society at every level.

Few leaders embody that evolution more than Sheila Gilbert, who became the first woman elected National President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA in 2011. Leaders like Gilbert have paved the way for the Society to be able to serve an average of 5 million vulnerable individuals nationwide each year.

From Local Conference to National Council

Gilbert’s leadership journey began decades earlier. She joined the Society in 1980 at the Christ the King Conference in Indianapolis, initially seeking a meaningful way to serve her community. Like many Vincentians, she started at the local level, gradually becoming more involved in the Society’s work and governance.

“I joined the Conference at my parish and served as secretary,” Gilbert recalled. “From there I became involved at the regional level and then nationally through various committees.”

Over the years, Gilbert took on increased responsibility within the organization, including serving as National Secretary for more than a decade. By the time she was elected National President, she had already spent roughly fifteen years working at the national level.

Prioritizing Systemic Change

During her presidency, Gilbert helped expand the Society’s emphasis on systemic change—encouraging Vincentians not only to respond to immediate needs but also to address the underlying causes of poverty.

One initiative that reflected this vision was the Society’s engagement with programs like Bridges Out of Poverty and Getting Ahead, which help individuals examine the barriers keeping them in poverty and identify pathways to greater stability.

Rather than prescribing solutions, these programs encourage participants to define their own goals and strategies for moving forward.

For Gilbert, that approach reflected a deeper understanding of the Society’s mission: walking with people in need rather than simply providing short-term relief.

Creating History

Her leadership also demonstrated how women were becoming increasingly visible within the Society’s national structure.

Former National President Gene Smith, who appointed Gilbert to leadership roles earlier in her Vincentian journey, recalled recognizing her ability to lead.

“When I made appointments, it wasn’t because I thought we needed more women,” Smith said. “It was because they were talented people and the right people for the job.”

Smith later watched with pride as Gilbert became the Society’s first woman National President.

Despite the historic nature of her election, Gilbert never viewed the role as a personal milestone. Instead, she saw it as part of the Society’s continuing effort to grow stronger in its service to others.

Today, women serve in leadership roles across the Society – from Conference officers to national committees. Gilbert’s presidency helped demonstrate that those contributions could also extend to the organization’s highest levels.

For Gilbert, leadership in the Society was never about personal recognition, but about stewardship.

“The strength of the Society is that nobody tries to hang on to the position,” Gilbert said. “You serve your term, and then you give the new person free rein to do what they need to do.”

By Ingrid Delgado, National Director of Public Policy & Advocacy

Vincentians know Matthew 25 well. In verses 31-46, Jesus teaches us that feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the ill, and visiting the prisoner are the criterion of judgement that will determine if we enter the Kingdom of God for eternal life. In fact, whatever we do (or don’t do) for one of the least of Jesus’ brothers, we did (or didn’t do) for Him. This, of course, is a core part of the Vincentian mission.

But what do we do in a time and in a country in which almost 48,000,000 people are food insecure and in which over 37,000,000 households are cost-burdened, paying over 30% of their income on housing? These staggering numbers challenge us to go beyond the work of charity and promote a more just society.

As Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Deus Caritas Est:

“A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply.”

In our efforts to “bring about openness of mind and will,” the Society of St. Vincent de Paul called for the Farm Bill that was considered by a Congressional committee this week to be a bipartisan product that alleviates hunger and strengthens the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, our nation’s core nutrition program. We are also closely monitoring a bipartisan housing bill that will likely receive a vote in the U.S. Senate next week.

As Vincentians who are dedicated to being in close relationship with and serving people in need, you bring a unique and critical perspective to the promotion of justice. In order to better inform our advocacy work, I am interested in learning about your experiences and perspectives about how our neighbors in need are being impacted by food and housing insecurity and the root causes of those experiences. You can send those to me at stories@svdpusa.org.

And if you are just starting to engage in the work of promoting justice through advocacy, please sign up for our electronic advocacy alerts for easy opportunities to write your elected officials about policy proposals impacting our neighbors in need: https://votervoice.net/SVDPUSA/home.

By Tim Williams, Senior Director, Formation & Leadership Development

“We don’t find the saints,” my dear friend Fr. Ronald Ramson likes to say. “They find us.”

St. Vincent, St. Louise, Bl. Frédéric, Bl. Rosalie – all of them, or at least one of them – has found you and led you to this vocation, perhaps in ways you did not even recognize at the time. For me, the call to this vocation came via my wife, who had attended an Invitation to Serve at our parish while I was away on business travel. She signed me up in absentia.

Some years later, I sought to discern what seemed like a much greater commitment: to leave the corporate world and move to a new state to serve full-time as National Formation Director. Amidst my own prayer and reflection, I found God, through the saints, kept nudging me, tapping me on the shoulder, letting me know that this was not only the path I should follow, but was the path I already was on.

Visiting my mother around that time, we went to my father’s grave, where Mom had often expressed comfort in a statue of St. Joseph, patron saint of fathers, who she said stood on a small rise overlooking Dad. When we arrived, I took a closer look and found it was not St. Joseph who had been watching over my father for fifteen years – it was St. Vincent de Paul. I didn’t find him; he always was there.

When I’d joined the Society full-time, my Uncle Denny, my godfather, called me very excitedly to congratulate me, and asked, “Did I ever tell you my confirmation name was Vincent de Paul?” All my life, though I had not known it, my godfather was Vincent de Paul. I didn’t find him; he always was there.

Just last year, as my wife and I celebrated our 40th anniversary, we traveled to an outdoor museum containing historical buildings from around the state. The last time we had visited Old World Wisconsin we were just teenagers, and in the little white church there we made promises we would later keep through our engagement and marriage. We had both forgotten, or perhaps never noticed, that this old wooden church was Catholic, and were pleasantly surprised to notice and that it was named St. Peter – the same name as our current parish. It wasn’t until weeks later, though, reading an old history book in the office, that I turned the page and froze, seeing a 100-year-old photo of a little white church, the church in which the first Conference in Milwaukee (the town where I grew up) had been founded. It was St. Peter Cathedral, the very same little white church that would later mean so much to me and my wife – the very wife who would one day sign me up for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. I didn’t find him; he always was there.

This vocation, our Rule reminds us, is not just for Conference Meetings and home visits, but for “every moment of our lives.” Let us seek the saints who already have found us, looking both ahead and behind us, in all the events and people in our lives, so that we may better follow their path towards holiness.

By Wendy Todd, Grants Writer, SVdP Archdiocesan Council of St. Louis

May 16, 2025 began as a bright and sunny day, but at 2:39 that afternoon, everything changed.

A tornado darkened the skies and tore through parts of St. Louis, damaging over 5,000 homes. Five people were killed. North St. Louis, an area that has historically been underserved and overburdened, was hit the hardest. It only took 27 minutes to change people’s lives forever.

Through meetings with a collective of nonprofits, Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in St. Louis learned of 18 senior citizens who had lost their homes and all their belongings.  Julie Komanetsky, interim executive director, and Varietta Anthony, who is the neighbor advocate and Vincentian support associate, helmed the efforts to assist the north St. Louis residents in securing transitional housing and recuperating.

With financial support from the Sisters of Charity, SVdP St. Louis was able to rent a floor from Peter and Paul Community Services and provide the group temporary housing. Each was able to move into their own room with a bathroom and receive three meals a day. They were also given clothing and personal items. The floor was named Vincentian Haven.

SVdP St. Louis, in collaboration with Housing Options Provided for the Elderly (HOPE) St. Louis, assisted the residents of Vincentian Haven with finding new homes and providing move-in deposits and some furnishings.

The group was extremely grateful to receive this act of life-saving kindness. It provided Arlee Hayes Jr. much needed stability in his time of crisis.

After his home of 16 years at the Roosevelt Apartments was destroyed, Hayes Jr. also known as “Butch,” stayed in a shelter and slept on an old Army cot. When he learned he’d be transferred to Peter and Paul Community Services, he was thrilled at the opportunity to have his own room and comfortable bed.

“The transition wasn’t easy, but thanks to the compassionate support of staff members Julie Komanetsky and Varietta Anthony, the process was made smoother,” Hayes Jr. said.

Komanetsky understood the impact of the temporary accommodation and what it meant to the group to feel cared for and protected. All but three of the residents have found new homes. The remaining guests will be relocated soon.

“Done in the spirit of our three essential elements – friendship, service, and spirituality – Vincentian Haven offered safety, comfort, and time for survivors to regroup and find their next home.”

In support of Vincentian Haven and the Archdiocesan Council of St. Louis, SVdP’s National Council and Disaster Services Corporation have awarded $20,000 to SVdP St. Louis to continue to support our neighbors in need with housing and other disaster-related initiatives.

By Tim Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development

We understand formation to be our lifelong journey of becoming, and our Vincentian vocation to be the special pathway we have chosen for that journey. As Vincentians, we further our growth along the way, most importantly through our person-to-person service of the poor, and equally importantly, our sharing with each other our own learning, insights, and growth. It is through this sharing that lives our Rule, journeying “together towards holiness.”

Because this is a lifelong journey, we continue our personal formation through a life of prayer and reflection, both individually and with our Conferences. During our personal reflections, it is helpful to read and reflect on the words and actions of the great cloud of Vincentian witnesses who have gone before, especially our founders and our patron saint. To help with this, the Society makes available a large number of books and other resources, and this can be both a blessing and a burden, because where do you start?

I’d like to offer a few suggestions, and would love to hear from you about specific reading, videos, or other materials that have inspired your own growth.

First, here are a few publications that you can find in our online Materials Store:

The Spirituality of the Home Visit: If our visits to the poor are “the means and not the end” as Frédéric once explained, then it is important to be intentional in reflecting upon that work. This booklet is a personal journal, filled with prompts for you to consider how you grew, how you experienced Christ, and opportunities for deeper growth.

Faces of Holiness: This book, written by Fr. Robert Maloney, CM, offers short examinations of the lives of holiness led by several Vincentian Saints and blessed. We are all called to imitate Christ, but just as I learned baseball first by imitating my older brother, and only then the Major Leaguers, so we all can benefit by first seeking to imitate these holy saints.

15 Days of Prayer with Bl. Frédéric Ozanam: This book is best read over fifteen days. Don’t race to finish reading. Instead, take Frédéric’s example and the prayers to heart each day. Use them as a daily meditation. Try to imitate our founder.

1000 Little Prayers for Vincentians: Sometimes it is helpful to read prayers, not because we are not capable of composing our own, but because these prayers may inspire your own prayers, which also may be silent and wordless, contemplating the thoughts these printed prayers have raised.

Apostle in a Top Hat: This book is best viewed as a novelization of Frédéric’s life. It is not a definitive source of history, but its stories beautifully capture the spirit of our founder. (For a deep dive of excellent history, Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam by my friend Ray Sickinger is easily the best choice!)

Elsewhere online, here is some more reading:

Letters of Frédéric Ozanam: Earliest Letters (1819–1840): This collection for Frédéric’s letters, from the age of six, through the found of the Society, and into his young adulthood, show us his growth in holiness, but also show us remarkable insights into our faith for a man of such a young age. This is a publication of the Society, available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon.

St. Vincent de Paul: Correspondence, Conferences, and Documents: This multi-volume set is a comprehensive collection of Vincent’s writing and teaching. A printed set can be very difficult (and expensive) to find, but DePaul University has made all the volumes available online.

And a few videos:

SVdPUSA Spirituality and Formation Channel (includes the shorter Fred Talk videos): Here you will find talks by our National Episcopal Advisor and others, along with many presentations on different formation-related topics.

Finally, don’t forget about the Vincentian Digital Pathway, where you can follow your interests, and discover many more resources.

This short list is only the tip of the iceberg, but I think you will find it fruitful and I hope it will lead you to further reading, and most importantly, help guide you on this lifelong journey of becoming.

Four years after a devastating tornado tore through Western Kentucky, families in Princeton and Dawson Springs are finally getting the keys to a new beginning — thanks to a powerful collaboration led by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Disaster Services of Western Kentucky and The Hope Initiative, a Christian organization dedicated to building homes for disaster survivors.

SVdP has previously partnered with The Hope Initiative to furnish 54 newly constructed homes in Mayfield through its House in a Box® program. This spring, the group approached SVdP once again with a bold idea: If buildable land could be secured in Caldwell County, they would provide homes for families still displaced since 2021.

SVdP answered the call. By reaching out to local contacts, they secured six donated properties from the city of Princeton and identified six families still without permanent housing. On December 9 — one day before the anniversary of the tornado — four of those homes were officially dedicated. The moment was emotional and unforgettable.

Among the recipients were Chavez and Hannah Kirkwood and their two children, who had been living in a storage building on a family member’s property after their home in Princeton was destroyed. Their new three-bedroom, two-bathroom home — fully furnished by SVdP through a grant from the Kentucky Colonels — marks the end of years of hardship and the start of a new chapter.

Another recipient, June Bleier, a single mother of four, lost her home and car in Dawson Springs during the storm. Without transportation, she also lost her job and has struggled ever since to find stable housing. SVdP had been working with June since the tornado, and her name came to mind immediately when The Hope Initiative began looking for families to support.

The dedication day brought the whole community together. Local leaders, including the Mayor and Kentucky’s Governor and First Lady, joined the Rotary Club, churches, volunteers, and residents to celebrate and welcome the families home. During the dedication, SVdP had the privilege of presenting the Bleier family with a new family Bible.

“St. Vincent de Paul helped make a life-changing, soul-changing opportunity possible,” said Vicki Duncan, community liaison for SVdP Disaster Services of Western Kentucky. “Tears of joy flowed the whole day — and even now as we reflect on what we accomplished together.”

St. Louis, Mo. (December 17, 2025) – The Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA (SVdP) has risen to number 45 in Forbes’ latest ranking of America’s top 100 charities.

This is the first time that SVdp has ranked in the top 50. Last year, SVdP was ranked 59^th. The annual ranking by Forbes is based on the amount of private support the charity received in the most recent fiscal period for which there is available data.

SVdP, which serves more than 5 million people in the United States each year, scored high for fundraising efficiency and the percentage of its funds that go directly to charitable programs. SVdP, including its local organizations, raised $447 million in its most recent fiscal year.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) understands that service to a neighbor in need is an opportunity to see the face of Christ in those we serve, while striving to be the face of Christ for our neighbors in need.  SVDP offers tangible assistance to those in need on a person-to-person basis through a variety of works, including food pantries, rental assistance, disaster relief, thrift stores, charitable pharmacies, and more.

“We are proud of the fact that our service to people in need in the United States is so comprehensive and impactful,” said SVdP National President John Berry. “This recognition is a testament to the vital support and heartfelt dedication of every single donor, volunteer, and neighbor we serve. It’s also a celebration of the generosity and compassion our more than 81,000 Vincentian volunteers put forth every day to help their communities through thousands of hours of person-to-person service to our neighbors. Their efforts are helping to create a more just world for all.”

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The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is 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. Since its founding in Paris in 1833, the Society has grown to over 800,000 members in over 155 countries with 1,500,000 volunteers, making it the largest lay Catholic organization in the world. SVdP is currently ranked 45^th among Forbes’ ranking of America’s top 100 charities. www.svdpusa.org

Media Contact: Mylin Batipps
Email: mbatipps@devinepartners.com

By Chad Caliguiri, Deputy Director, SVdP Des Moines

Holiday shopping is evolving – and secondhand gifts are taking center stage. According to new consumer research, more than 8 in 10 Americans plan to purchase at least one secondhand gift this holiday season, with many allocating up to half of their gift budget to thrifted or pre-loved items. What was once seen as a last resort is now viewed as a thoughtful, budget-conscious, and environmentally friendly way to give.

From vintage home décor and gently used books to unique fashion pieces and children’s toys, secondhand gifts are being chosen with care. Affordability remains the top motivator – especially as many families continue to feel the pinch of rising costs – but shoppers also appreciate the creativity, uniqueness, and sustainability of thrifted finds. Younger generations in particular are embracing resale shopping for its reduced environmental impact and its sense of purpose.

That sense of purpose is especially visible in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s nationwide network of thrift stores. These community-run shops not only provide low-cost, high-quality goods to local residents – they also help fund the Society’s essential programs, including food pantries, housing support, disaster relief, and more. Every purchase supports direct service to neighbors in need.

So this year, as you consider how to give generously without breaking the bank, consider joining the “Thriftmas” movement at your local SVdP store. It’s a chance to find meaningful gifts that give twice – once to your loved ones, and again to those experiencing poverty.