Palatine, Illinois
A conference of the Archdiocesan Council of Chicago and the Council of the United States
The work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is the Gospel message in action…
… I was hungry … I was thirsty … … I was a stranger … I was naked …
… I was sick … I was in prison …
… and you cared
Membership in the Society is open to all. If you are interested in joining us, or in learning more about the Society, please contact us through the Ministry of Care office. The telephone number is 847-358-7760. Also by email at svdppalatine@gmail.com.
If you know someone, perhaps a friend or a neighbor, who is in need of help, let us know. Your name will not be used, but we will arrange for a home visit with them to learn how we might be of assistance.
To make financial contributions to this work, please send checks payable to the Society of St. Vincent De Paul to:
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
St. Theresa Conference
455 N. Benton Street
Palatine, IL 60067
National Web Site – www.svdpusa.org
Chicago Web Site – www.svdpchicago.org
The St. Vincent de Paul Society was founded in 1833 by Blessed Frederic Ozanam as an organization of lay persons who reach out to those who are poor and in need regardless of religious belief or denomination affiliation. Members seek out their own spiritual development as well. The St. Theresa Conference has been actively engaged in this work since 1992. Counseling with clients, whether spiritual or material, is done in a spirit of charity during home visits conducted by two of our members. The names of the persons assisted are always kept confidential.
The St. Theresa Conference is integrally linked with the Parish Ministry of Care. Most of the clients that we assist are referred by the head of our Ministry of Care, who determines that they could benefit from the assistance of our Society.
Types of temporary emergency financial assistance provided:
Utilities (Electric/Gas)
Medicine
Rent
Other needs
Clients are informed about where they might obtain food and clothing if that would be helpful. Referrals are often made to community organizations when longer-term
assistance may be needed which may be available through programs provided by these organizations.
Funds Available are Provided By:
- Monthly St. Theresa Sharing Collection
- Annual Thanksgiving Day/Holy Thursday Collections
- Member contributions at monthly meetings
- Direct contributions from parishioners/donors
Other Activities of The St. Vincent de Paul Society
- Assisting with the monthly food collection in support of the food pantry
- Semi-annual clothing drives for the poor
- Assisting with PLMA Food Show distribution
- Assisting with the Thanksgiving food basket and clothing distribution
- Assisting with the Christmas food basket and present distribution
- Partnering with Faith Community Homes to provide assistance with affordable housing and economic stability
- Partnering with Spring of Life Habitat Partnership
- Partnering with Palatine Faith in Action
- Other charitable works as needs are made known to our members
How We Operate
- Meetings are held twice a month for the purpose of prayer, spiritual reflection, business reporting and review and discussion of visitations made since the last meeting
- Client Visits
- Members are scheduled by month for visits in pairs; a member is generally on call three or four months a year
- Typically there are four or five visits per month
- Clothing Drives – members volunteer for a 2-3 hour shift twice per year
- Food basket distribution – available members volunteer for one weekday before Thanksgiving and one Saturday before Christmas to prepare and distribute food baskets
- Monthly food collection – one of our members volunteers to drive the food collected from parishioners to the food pantry after the Sunday masses