Written by Hannah Krafka, Marketing and Communications 

 

You may be familiar with St Vincent de Paul—between the two thrift stores, food pantries, and shelters many people know we’re all about helping Dayton residents in need. But the Dayton District Council of St Vincent de Paul is so huge, we’ve listed a few facts that you may not have known about how we assist the homeless and underprivileged community in the Miami Valley.

5. We have 35 Conferences providing person-to-person assistance.

St Vincent de Paul believes in providing more than broad, generalized services for individuals and families in Montgomery County. Our volunteer conference members, called Vincentians, meet with people seeking assistance to ensure they receive the respect and support they deserve unique to their situation. Each conference operates unique to their neighborhoods needs and follows the St Vincent de Paul vision of improving the lives of those in need—one person at a time. You can search for your conference using your Zip code.

4. Our Supportive Services for Veteran Families prevents homeless Dayton veterans.

We at St Vincent de Paul are so thankful for the veterans who have served in the armed forces and believe that no service member or military family should be forced to lose their home. St Vincent de Paul’s SSVF program served 198 veteran households in 2014 and provided emergency assistance to 84 veteran families. You can read more about how we assist veterans and the counties we serve.

3. Your donations are first used to meet community needs.

When you make a donation of your used household items, you may think they are simply sold at our Community Thrift Store—especially since we receive them at the south end of the Community Thrift Store at 945 S Edwin C Moses Blvd. While this is true for some of the items, the vast majority goes directly to clients at our Gateway shelters or to the families and individuals transitioning from shelter to permanent housing. Even our conferences help distribute your donations to the community by providing thrift store vouchers to the people they assist one-on-one. When your donated items cannot be used in the community or thrift stores, they are recycled to financially support the programs and services at St Vincent de Paul. You can see what items we most need by checking our current Wish List.

BONUS FACT: St Vincent de Paul can pick up your donations! Fill out this form to schedule your pick up.

2. St Vincent de Paul has many transitional and permanent housing programs.

Our goal at St Vincent de Paul is to end homeless in Montgomery County and we work with clients staying in our shelter to facilitate the appropriate steps to make that possible. Homefull’s Case Managers and our own Client Advocates meet regularly with homeless individuals to help them take the personalized next steps to make sure our clients stay out of shelter and in their new housing. Sometimes that includes our own housing programs where we continue providing the support they need to succeed.

1. You can make a Difference in Dayton.

There are so many opportunities to get involved with St Vincent de Paul’s life changing work in Dayton. You can attend and sponsor the 5k, Golf Outing, or Mission Gala. You can donate your vehicle and get a great tax deduction. You can give regularly or plan ahead to give from your estate. You can volunteer your time in our programs as a group or as an individual. You can make sure Dayton is a better place to live by committing to St Vincent de Paul’s mission of empowering the people in our community who need our help.

Find your place in Dayton and help today.
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