at your service

svdp conferences

The Conferences of Charity is composed of 88 parish-based chapters with a network of 5,900 volunteers, called Vincentians.

Each Conference receives calls from families within its community and responds with personal home visits to assess not only how to provide help, but also to reach out and let them know that there is a community of people who care.

Last year, our Conferences of Charity visited 53,376 homes of individuals and families.

St. Vincent's building block. Thousands of volunteers. Zero staff. Countless families helped.

Treating the sick with no red tape. Volunteer doctors tell us, "This is why I went into medicine!"

family assistance

Preventing homelessness is a critical mission at SVdP.

By creating programs like Aid to Stranded Travelers, Family Eviction Prevention, Help for the Working Poor, and Ministry to the Incarcerated, SVdP help families to stay off the streets.

A careful and considerate evaluation is afforded all who seek help, and our volunteers do their best to provide the service and care families require to avoid homelessness.

Our volunteers can literally keep parents and children from becoming homeless.

ministry to the homeless

When homelessness becomes a bleak reality, SVdP sheds some hope.

Volunteer case managers assess each client’s needs, make relevant referrals to social service agencies that can provide help, and monitor progress towards self-sufficiency.

Beginning with information for dining rooms hours, clinics and shelters, and medical or dental aid, SVdP meets the basic needs for a dignified survival.

For those making observable positive changes in their lives, other services may include job training, appropriate work attire, and bus tickets or bicycles to attend interviews or new jobs. On-going monitoring and guidance increase the likelihood of long-term success and self-sufficiency.

Bringing help, and hope, to the most marginalized among us.

dining rooms

St. Vincent de Paul provides more than six million meals every year – 3500 meals in the Valley alone – to working poor and homeless people.

The dining rooms are a refuge where people can dine together and children can learn, play, and interact together, in a safe, warm environment. Parents too, can relax while watch supervised activities that enrich and nourish young minds.

Hot meals nourish the body, while educational programs nourish young minds.

family programming

Acting and Storytelling, 'Little Critters' craft projects, "Bring Your Homework" time, or learn English classes - they sound like fun activities, yet they teach families functional skills to cope with school and community.

From after-school to after-dinner, families are fed, entertained, and instructed by volunteers who receive so much more than they give!

So much more than a soup kitchen. Volunteer-led services and activities for parents and kids.

ozanam manor

Ozanam Manor is a temporary home to men and women age 50 and older, and adults over the age of 18, who are physically or mentally disabled.

Guests are provided with a safe, nurturing and supportive environment with 24-hour staff support. Individual case management focuses on development of life skills needed to make a productive transition into permanent housing and independent living.

Shelter, care, and mentoring for elderly or disabled adults.

thrift stores

Donate, shop, help others in need. It can all be done at one of the seventeen St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Stores located throughout Central and Northern Arizona.

Gently used clothing, furniture and household items may be purchased and donated at any location.

We've even won accolades for our stores! St. Vincent de Paul's boutique, furnishings-only thrift store, Ozzie’s, was named the "Best Antique Store in the Valley" on AZCentral.com’s 2008 Best Readers’ Choice Poll, and The Arizona Republic also named Ozzie’s Furnishings one of “5 decor shops for easy-on-the-wallet updates" for 2010.

Eight valley locations offering affordable items and sustaining our services.

voice of the poor

As part of a national organization, Valley Vincentians are called upon to promote social justice and defend people in need. Voice of the Poor is an advocacy arm to speak to the larger society with a single voice and address root causes of poverty.

VoOP provides food, shelter and emergency services to people in need while actively researching and educating legislators and law makers about the economic and social issues impacting the poorest among us.

Believing in the dignity of every person, VOP challenges social policies and institutes on behalf of the poor.

youth scholarships

Many students in high school must work to help support themselves and their families. In some cases, they simply lack role models that will encourage them to achieve academic success or seek higher education.

The One At A Time program assists motivated students who are not able to afford the cost of attending college. Through financial and academic screenings, candidates are chosen to receive financial aid for four years of college education and mentoring services.

Learn more about St. Vincent de Paul's One At A Time youth scholarship program.

other programs

Many of SVdP's most successful programs grew from recognition of a need, and the willlingness to serve that need.

Others may be seasonal like Christmas "Adopt a Family"; while others target an at-risk group, like the "Shifting Gears" workshop for or the 10-18 year old age group which teaches simple bicycle repairs.

If you have an idea, a group looking for a cause, or skills that serve the poor, find a way!

Find a way... to help them find their way.