To the casual observer, South Valley seems to be a prosperous area. There are lavish homes, well-kept landscaping, expensive cars and other signs of wealth. But beneath this glitzy surface there is a good deal of poverty and despair.
Many parishioners of Morgan Hill’s St. Catherine Roman Catholic Church are well aware of this situation. One ministry to help the poor is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Approximately 100 members donate time to aid the poor in Coyote, Morgan Hill and San Martin.
• Trained volunteers monitor a help line every day; residents in need can leave a message detailing such requests as help with rent or PG&E bills, finding lodging and assistance with procuring groceries or clothing.
• Volunteers then follow up with funds from their organization or make referrals to other agencies better able to meet specific needs.
• Another program is an ongoing solicitation of clothing for children. Each August, SVDP volunteers distribute these items to children who need clothes for the new school year.
• Homecard is a program to assist the sick or lonely elderly by sending greeting cards or phoning them with friendly words of encouragement.
• The group has also collected used books to donate for prisoners in the County Jail.
Completely run by lay people in the parish, there are no administrative expenses involved. Still, requests exceed the funding available that comes from quarterly collections from the congregation, a recent car wash put on by a youth confirmation class and financial donations by the volunteer themselves.
Volunteers must screen requests to make sure the need is legitimate and that the limited funds help as many people as possible. According to Tim Hansen, one of the people who has responded to the helpline for the past four years, “When we determine that we can’t help someone, it’s very hard to say no.”
The Society is named for Vincent de Paul, a Frenchman who was captured by Barbary pirates in 1605 and spent two years as a slave. When he was freed, he studied for the priesthood, then founded a religious order and became well known for conducting retreats for clergy and establishing seminaries
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 by six law students at the Sorbonne in Paris. Frederick Ozanan, their leader, set this goal: “Assisting the poor with no act of charity foreign to the society.” Today there are some 700,000 members worldwide in 148 countries.
In the United States, an estimated $675 million worth of aid has been provided to some 14 million poor; there are 24 SVDP “conferences” (groups) working through Catholic parishes in Santa Clara County. Their underlying principle is that “each of us can make a difference in the lives of others.” Together “parish conferences are able to provide the services of a larger, professionally-run organization without sacrificing local direction and the passion of lay volunteers doing good in their own neighborhoods.”
To request help or to offer assistance, contact the St. Catherine SVDP helpline at (408) 778-2928.
Chuck Flagg is a retired teacher with a passion for religion. Reach him at [email protected].
