Manual of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in the United States

E. Services to Promote Social Justice

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  Every Vincentian needs to understand the Society’s priorities and motivation in advocating for the poor. Voice of the Poor, the National Committee of the Society, upholds Catholic Social teaching by researching, validating, documenting, advocating, and promulgating issues related to the condition of the poor and disenfranchised.
  
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  At the parish level, social justice can be promoted by publicizing the problems of the poor, providing a forum to discuss poverty issues and society’s proper response to them, and seeking to inform and influence public opinion.
  
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  At the local, state, and federal levels, promotion of social justice requires advocacy, and the establishment and operation of programs, benefits, and services that address the root causes of want and encourage respect for human life and dignity.
  
  Funds of the Conference
  
  
  

The Society has held from the beginning that the funds donated to the Conference belong to the poor. In the role of administrator, the Conference strives to meet the most urgent needs that come to its attention. Conference members should never adopt the attitude that the money is theirs, or that the recipients have to prove that they deserve it. Although common sense in distribution is expected by those who support the Conference, members need to remember that, by and large, they are dealing with individuals and families who may be desperate, who often have dysfunctional histories, and who are at a point in their lives when a multitude of problems weigh them down. These are precisely the people whom the Society is called on to serve by bringing them support and hope. Erring on the side of compassion is always advisable.

Although Conference work often involves financial assistance, a Conference’s success cannot be judged solely by the amount of money it receives or distributes. Conferences with limited resources can also have a big impact. A member’s time and concern may be the best gift a Conference can give to the poor.

Society funds are to be maintained by the Conference, not by the parish. The Conference must have a separate checking account. Priests and Deacons are not to be signors. Society funds must not be commingled with parish or individual accounts. How funds are used should be reported to parish and pastor frequently.

Donations to Conferences — whether they come from church collections, from the members themselves, from benefactors, or from fundraising efforts — are meant to address today’s needs. It is wrong for a Conference to seek financial security by building up a large balance for the needs of the future. Conference balances should not exceed what they expect to spend during an average quarter. Surplus funds should be shared generously with more needy Conferences or the special works of the District Council.

Funds donated to the Conference must be used only for works that involve the personal service of members of the Society. As generous as the Conference should be to needy individuals, it cannot provide funds to causes outside of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, no matter how worthy they are. The Society does not raise money for activities in which its members are not personally and substantially involved. Above all, the intention of the donor, who chose to give to the Society, must prevail.

Conference Policies in Giving Material Relief

One of the greatest strengths of the Conference is its flexibility. Members who personally encounter the needy individual or family are assumed to have a special insight into the best way to give help. Neither race, creed, church attendance, life style, nor income should automatically qualify or disqualify anyone for assistance. Whenever it can, a Conference should address a crisis quickly. Lack of food is one of the most urgent needs that come to the Conference’s attention. However the Conference chooses to deal with such emergencies — with food given in kind, a voucher or gift certificate to a supermarket — the dignity and confidentiality of the needy person should be protected.

Some persons may seek greater financial assistance from the Conference, such as payment of rent or utility bills. Conferences should always have personal contact with such applicants, even when Conference funds cannot cover the full amount. Conferences can partner with other Conferences, other organizations, or the needy persons themselves to provide a portion of what is needed.

It is important not to create dependencies in the people we help. Vincentians need to consider each situation they encounter on its own merits, carefully crafting with the persons in need a resolution to their most pressing problems. Members of the Society understand that people can change self-defeating patterns in their lives when they are encouraged to believe in themselves. Vincentian support frequently takes the form of encouragement and realistic planning, building upon the strengths we find in the struggling individual or family.

Aggregation of Conferences

Just as individual members of the Society are formally incorporated into the Conference, so too must the Conference be incorporated, or aggregated, by the International Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Aggregation provides official recognition of the Conference’s status as part of the Society and links it and its members with the Society’s visible symbol of unity: the International Council General. The function of the International Council is to preserve among all Conferences the unity of membership and practices that characterizes the organization begun by Blessed Frederic Ozanam in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul.

Recruitment

The Conference as a whole, and members individually, should encourage recruitment of new Active (Full), Associate, and Contributing members. Participation in special parish days to acquaint parishioners with parish organizations can be effective, with literature and photographs used to showcase the work of the Society and the Conference’s various projects. One-on-one personal recruitment works best. Conferences and Councils should take advantage of the effective recruitment model Invitation to Serve, available from the National Council of the United States.

The local Conference must maintain a welcoming environment, so that men and women of all ages and backgrounds can work together and share their Christian values.

Conference members also listen with sensitivity to generations and cultures poorly represented in its ranks to find out why they are not attracted to our ministry. Are members a joyful people whose demeanor in service would attract others? The future of the Society lies with each and every Vincentian. Actively inviting others to join is as important as the service rendered to the needy.

M. Pierre Chouard, International President of the Society from 1955-1967, posed this sobering question: “If Frederic Ozanam a twenty-year-old college student and founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in 1833, were a college student today with the same soul, the same spirit, the same attraction to sanctity, the same tenderness to the distressed, the same understanding of the world today, would he become a member of one or another St. Vincent de Paul Conference? To tell the truth, who would dare to reply always in the affirmative?”