How St Vincent S Helps Underprivileged Persons

St. Vincent Society Program Vincent's Society in the local neighborhood is a non-profit charitable society that helps to meet the needs of impoverished persons in the community by offering a voucher program to persons who need help with everything from rent to housing/furniture/clothing needs to helping to ensure that they have enough food for the family (the Society partners with other charities in the neighborhood like the Freestore Foodbank to work together to create a better community where people work together to fulfill all the basic needs).

The St. Vincent's thrift stores are set up to accept donations from individuals which can be used as tax write-offs at the end of the year; the stores then sell the items at discount prices and use the funds to pay staff and to fund the various programs it does throughout the year to assist the community. The problem that the program of St. Vincent's was designed to alleviate or solve was the problem of poverty in urban centers. The Society was begun by St.

Vincent who lived in Paris in the 17th century and was moved by the number of needy people living in the streets. So he began an organization that would provide basic necessities to these people by collecting donations and distributing them to the poor. This mission spread throughout the world and today its mission is still the same, even if its methods of providing basic necessities have changed (O'Donnell, 1995). St.

Vincent's starts by accepting donations such as household goods, like clothing, furniture, games, books, dishware, kitchenware, TVs and more -- all items that go to help making the home more comfortable and livable, and to help clothe people. These items are then given in many cases to families who qualify for the voucher program (these are families who are impoverished or who meet the federal guidelines for poverty according to income standards and who are typically already on welfare). St.

Vincent's uses the data collection method given them by federal legislators, which is to examine income statements, bills, and the individual family's ability to pay in order to assess who qualifies for the voucher program. The vouchers, when given, may be redeemed at St. Vincent's for whatever household items the individual needs. Bills for rent and/or gas and electric, water, sanitation, etc., may also be paid by St.

Vincent's through their assistance program depending on the needs that the families have at that time and if they meet the qualification standards of income poverty. St. Vincent's thus acts as a rallying point for members of the community by serving as a pillar for the underprivileged. It also employs and accepts volunteers from the community to help sort out donations, run the stores, and interact with participants in the various programs that the Society organizes and manages. In this manner, St.

Vincent's also supports the local community by bringing people of all different backgrounds together to help make the community a better place where individuals can help and be helped. St. Vincent's will also help individuals secure prescription medications if they cannot afford them, bus tickets and even "spiritual, emotional and material assistance on a person-to-person basis" through its Outreach Center locations where the Society offers educational materials, motivational planning, spiritual direction, and more (Need Assistance, 2015).

Through its partnerships around town, the Society also supports various seasonal programs like the annual gift giving event at Christmas, the Thanksgiving turkey drive (where canned goods are collected), and more. Program participants for these events include anyone from the community who chooses to donate items or "select" a family in need for that particular season and provide gifts or food items for that family. The goals of the main St.

Vincent program, which is to collect donated items and offer them either for free through the voucher program or for discount prices to consumers, are to serve as a retail outlet for shoppers who cannot afford higher-priced items; to provide a means for members of the community to reach out and give items that they themselves no longer want or need to less fortunate families, and to act as a pillar of the community by bringing people together to meet a common challenge -- poverty.

No special qualifications are needed to run this program; in fact, anyone can open up a St. Vincent's chapter in their neighborhood by applying with the Society and establishing a ground plan. Managers are needed to help run the locations but no special degree or schooling is required. Likewise, in the upper tiers of.