Photo courtesy of Susan Anderson.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society in our diocese dedicates many hours in service to our neighbors in need. Many people know them for the thrift stores in Sioux Falls, but those stores are not their main activity. They are, however, the engine that fuels much of what they do.
So what does the St. Vincent de Paul Society do? Service Director Susan Anderson and Deacon John Devlin, spiritual adviser for the council, sat down with Renae Kranz on the diocesan podcast “Catholic Views” recently to share the many ways this group serves others. (Responses are edited for length and clarity.)
Renae
You call your volunteers Vincentians, and you focus on two main missions: home visits and the diaper ministry. What are the home visits?
Deacon Devlin
Each of the five conferences in Sioux Falls has the duty and privilege of going out once every five weeks. People call the 211 number and leave a message for us. Then we have a coordinator who gets those and assigns two people to each one of those calls.
We always go out in pairs, always. We schedule a time with the person, who we call our “friend in need,” and we go to meet them in their home, if at all possible. We have a nice conversation; we get to know them and understand them and what their needs are. And then if we are able to, we can assist them in practical ways, but we always do our best to also assist them in spiritual ways.
Renae
Susan, what kind of things do you help people with?
Susan
In the St. Vincent de Paul Society, we follow the rule. In the rule, there is a saying that there is no charity that is foreign to the Vincentian. Let me share with you a quote from our mission.
“Our mission is to serve those in need—people without jobs or without money, people who are hungry, people sitting in darkness because their electricity has been cut off, people who are losing hope. We go to them in a home visit, we listen to them, we pray with them, and we provide whatever help we can to meet their needs. We show them that even in their darkest hours, God has not abandoned them.”
One of our main things right now is rent and utilities, but we also give out food vouchers and gift cards to the thrift store for clothing and household materials. Bus passes and transportation are another big one as well. We meet our neighbors where they are, usually in their apartment or their home. That’s what makes us really unique is that we meet them where they’re at, not just financially, but also where they’re at spiritually.
Renae
What I love about the work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is that these are the things the Church is supposed to do. This is what Jesus called us to do: Not only worship him and be good people, but to serve the poor and those in need. And what better way to do that than directly?
Susan
Yes. It’s an encounter; our faith is personal, but not private. Part of the rule that we follow is in Scripture: Whatever you do to the least of my people, you do to me. When I was hungry, you gave me food; thirsty, you gave me drink; when a stranger, you welcomed me.
Renae
Where do the funds come from to be able to help people?
Susan
That’s where the stores come in. It helps fund our neighbors in need, but then also the parishes themselves help with funding. We have five conferences in Sioux Falls: St. Katharine Drexel, St. Michael, Christ the King, St. Mary and St. Lambert. We also have conferences in Watertown, Aberdeen and Yankton. In each one of those parishes, there’s a poor box or an almsgiving box, and parishioners can give directly in the poor box, which goes directly to that conference and to that neighbor in need.
Renae
And so, if someone calls and needs rent assistance, you don’t give the money to the person; you actually give it to their landlord to pay the rent.
Susan
Correct. We contact the landlord, Xcel Energy, or whoever, depending on the need. We don’t give them direct cash.
Renae
There are other reasons you go to the home instead of just talking to them on the phone or sending them a gift card, which is to see what else is going on and what other ways you can help. Deacon Devlin, can you give us an example?
Deacon Devlin
I can tell you about an encounter we had about two years ago. We went to a home and visited a family where the mother was the main worker because she had the better job. The husband stayed home most of the time, and he had a lawn mower and would run around and try to get jobs mowing lawns.
When the egg crisis came, she lost her job because they made egg sandwiches for stores. But what we found out beyond that was that these poor people were living in this terrible rental house, and they had six children. A man who had been convicted of sexual crimes against children was living in the basement rental unit. We were able to not only assist them in some practical and spiritual ways, but we also were able to help them make sure that situation was remedied. It took some doing, but we did it.
Renae
One of the things you also do when you go on home visits is pray with them. Why do you do that?
Susan
One essential part of the rule is spirituality, and prayer is a big part of that. Before we go on home visits, we, two-by-two, pray together. And then after the home visit, we ask the neighbor in need, “Can you join us in a prayer?” That’s where I believe our mission comes in, because it’s something that’s personal, and we need to have prayer to help this many people.
Renae
All of this leads into a connection point with Bishop DeGrood and the vision of the diocese. What St. Vincent de Paul Vincentians do is very much in line with Lifelong Catholic Missionary Discipleship Through God’s Love, because of the people you serve. Sometimes you serve Catholics, many times non-Catholics. And they’re at a point in their life when they really need something.
Deacon Devlin
I think you could easily call the Vincentian a disciple. We are on mission, not only a mission of charity, but a mission of spirituality and of hope. And I believe that fits very nicely in Bishop’s view of the vision for our diocese.
Renae
It’s actually very direct. I think sometimes we confuse missionary discipleship with lectoring on Sunday or something like that. Those are really good things to do, but missionary discipleship is actually walking with someone in their life journey, in their spiritual journey. And that’s what we’re being asked to do. And this is a beautiful way to do that.
Tell us more about the diaper ministry.
Susan
Yes. We have a weekly diaper ministry called Holy Innocents Ministry (HIM) at both of the stores. We give away diapers, wipes and also formula vouchers. There are daytime and evening hours, which can be found at our website, svdpsd.com. And that’s where they can find information about volunteering, online donating and where a parish can find out how to get a conference going. In addition, if someone is in need of assistance, they can go to our online form to start the process.
Renae
What else should we know?
Susan
The heart of our mission is the volunteers, and the need is great. We have more needs than we have volunteers.
If you want to be a Vincentian, we’ll train you. You don’t go alone. Once you go on one home visit, you get more comfortable. You have to get out of your comfort zone. But, you know, we’re not made for comfort. We’re made for greatness.
