The Brothers of Charity were founded in 1807 at Ghent, Belgium, by Pierre Joseph Triest (1760-1836) for nursing and education. This priest founded four congregation to aid the poor in the spirit of Saint Vincent de Paul, the patron of this institute. Triest himself was known as the Vincent de Paul of Belgium. Quite soon after their founding in 1807, the Brothers of Charity started organizing education. Street urchins and children from poor families who had no access to existing schools were relieved by the Brothers of Charity, first in Ghent as from 1809 and later on in other locations in Belgium, and as from 1865 in Canada and other continents.

Today, the Brothers of Charity perform their services in about 31 countries on different continents, where, in addition to education, they develop care for the mentally ill and persons with disabilities. As a Christian-inspired organization, they start from an unconditional respect of every form of life, in which the task resounds to improve the dignity of people with threatened life opportunities. The quality of life is of paramount importance to them and it is given shape in the care of the person in all of his life’s dimensions.

http://www.brothersofcharity.org/