…it has been proven that by supporting people in the community we can keep them out of hospital and off the streets.Blessed Frederic Ozanam, founder of the St Vincent de Paul Society, said: “The knowledge of social wellbeing and of reform is learned not from books, nor from the public platform. It is learned from climbing the stairs of the poor man’s garret, sitting by his bedside, feeling the same cold that pierces him, sharing the secrets of his lonely heart and troubled mind. When the conditions of the poor have been examined, in school, at work, in the hospital, in the city, the country, everywhere that God has placed them, it is then and then only, that we know the elements of that formidable problem, that we can begin to solve it” (Ozanam in his Correspondence, p279).
The Society has long argued that to truly assist people with mental health problems, we need to address the problem in the home, on the streets or wherever else they reside.
The Society, through home visitation, Special Works and the Compeer friendship program, interacts with people in their own space to combat the isolation they experience, to build their social confidence and to help them reconnect with the community.
Thanks to Tim Williams CM for this information.
