Last year, 1,800 Vincentian volunteers logged nearly 134,000 hours and put almost 400,000 miles on their cars reaching out to one million individuals in need. They also raised more than $1 million.Â
Taken together, these acts of charity beg the question, Why do many Angelenos think the St. Vincent de Paul Society is some bygone church organization their grandmothers belonged to?
“The society has been around so long, but its members have pretty much kept quiet,” says Brian Pickering, public relations director for the Los Angeles Council. “The philosophy for the volunteers is ‘we don’t want a pat on the back.’ It’s been a struggle to get Vincentians to speak more, because they think they’re boasting talking about their work.
“So it’s been hard to increase our public image,” he notes. “And because there are so many charities around today – even though we believe we’re different – if people don’t know who we are, our assistance is very limited. Slowly but surely we’re making inroads.”
One of the major differences is home visits.
Following in the footsteps of their founder, Frenchman Frederic Ozanam – who reportedly made the first home visit when the young law student carried a supply of wood to a poor Parisian family in 1833 – Vincentians still go to the homes of people seeking assistance. In pairs, the lay volunteers offer direct help along with referrals to individuals and families in crisis.
