St. Vincent de Paul

"Whatsoever you did to the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me." ~ Matthew 26:45

Mission Statement: We are a Catholic lay organization helping the Poor, the Needy, and the Disabled in our area. Through personal contacts we provide guidance, spiritual, and monetary help in a humble, caring, and Christian way respecting the human dignity of each person we serve. This allows our Members and Benefactors to grow spiritually closer to Christ 

How We Help.....

• with rent, utilities, food, medicine and other essentials.
• coordinate with other agencies to assist our clients with these and additional needs such as clothing or furniture. 
• we respond to most requests for help by conducting a home visit by two of our volunteers. Discussions are always confidential, and include an overview of needs, current financial situation and sources of help.

Who We Help.....

• Typical people served in 2016 include families facing eviction or utility disconnection; homeless; a family living without heat and electricity for several months; parents who have lost their jobs; single mothers struggling to make ends meet; and victims of domestic violence.

 2019 Report.....
During our past fiscal year (October 2018 through September 2019), our SVdP volunteers fielded hundreds of calls for assistance. Calls range from 3 to 12 per day. Of these, we accepted 303 cases, which provided help to 674 people. Many calls were referred to other area agencies and ministries.
St. Gabriel parishioners contributed $53,164 to our conference. This was used to help the needy in our area.                                                                    Our operating expenses, paid by special fundraisers, totaled less than 1 % to cover postage, office supplies, and other items.
Our volunteers devoted about 3,500 hours of service and                       traveled more than 5,00 miles in service to our neighbors.
In addition to the above, our conference conducted a School Supply drive, a Blanket Sunday collection, and the annual Share–A–Christmas campaign. The School Supply drive, in cooperation with many other area churches and businesses, provided supplies to about 2000 needy Lake County children. The Blanket Sunday collection, in conjunction with St. Mary’s (Painesville), provided blankets and bedding to                     almost 150 people. Share-A-Christmas helped approximately 400 people in our area.
We can only help when we have the means to do so. Your contributions help us to help others. However, without a generous bequest, we would have run out of funds and had to turn away 85 families this year. Remember, as Jesus said, “what you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me”. Thank you for all your support.
 

We can only help when we have the means to do so. Your contributions help us help others. Without a generous bequest from a non-parishioner, we would have run out of funds and had to turn away almost 76 families we helped this year. Remember, as Jesus said, “what you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me”.
Thank you for all your support.

 Who We Are.....
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international Catholic lay organization offering person-to-person service to the needy and suffering. Founded in France in 1833, the Society reached the U.S in 1845 and Cleveland in 1865.  In 2015 we celebrated the 150th anniversary of our presence in the Cleveland diocese. The St. Gabriel conference was organized in 1986. Our conference has been providing assistance in Lake County forover 30 years. Funds for our ministry come from you, from quarterly collections,  and the charity of St. Gabriel parishioners. We also received several memorial contributions this past year.

Next Walk TBD

Being Christ • EveryDay • Everywhere.
May God bless YOU for your continued generosity. YOU help us to help others.
 
For anyone interested in learning more about our activities and considering becoming a Member of this outreach team please contact the Church Office.