About Us
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Tucson provides a variety of programs and
services to help those in need in Pima, Cochise, Graham, Yuma and Santa Cruz
counties through a network of 728 volunteers in 35 parish Conferences. In FY
2021-22 these volunteers helped 45,222 people through home visits; hospital
and eldercare visits; and other in-person contacts.
We were able to provide $1,818,529 of financial assistance support for a myriad
of purposes including payment of utility and medical bills and other needs. We provided $517,449 in rent and mortgage payments to avoid evictions. Direct financial assistance for the year totaled $1,694, 815, an increase of $500,000 over the previous year. In-kind services including food, clothing, furniture and other goods, combined with direct financial assistance exceeded $5,400,000.
St. Vincent de Paul volunteers donated 75,960 hours of time and traveled over
182,000 miles in service to others.
MISSION
Our mission: A network of friends, inspired by Gospel values, growing in holiness and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need.
The values behind the mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Tucson are very simple. We grow spiritually by offering person-to-person support and service to anyone who is in need. We are the helping hand that puts a meal on a family’s table and makes sure the lights and heat stay on. Our generosity means that men, women, and children are clothed, that they have a bed – or needed furniture – or just a place to sleep. We are reaching out to those without hope and giving them the gift of a better tomorrow.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international Catholic lay organization united in our vision of offering individual help to those in need and in addressing the causes of charity and justice. Our members are nourished by prayer, reflection and supportive gatherings as they walk in the footsteps of the One who comforted the sick, healed the lepers, washed the feet of strangers and helped the Samaritan. We see the face of God in every human — of every condition — who can benefit from our aid.
We serve with no distinction to religious affiliation and offer individual help to every ethnic and cultural group.
HISTORY
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul began with a personal challenge to provide individual help to the needy and it remains true to that mission today. In 1833, Frederic Ozanam, a young law student at Sorbonne in France, was challenged during a debate to demonstrate what he and his fellow Catholic students were personally doing to help the poor in their Parish. Ozanam – only 20 years of age – acted immediately and with six others financed works of charity out of their own pockets. They called their group the Conference of Charity. Ozanam pioneered the lasting process of a home visit to assess needs and the follow-through to meet them.
As recommended by his mentors, Monsieur Emmanuel Bailly and Sister Rosalie Rendu, a Daughter of Charity, Ozanam placed the Conference under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul, who served the poor in 16th Century France. Ozanam’s group of 7 grew to 600 and then 2000 spreading across France. In 1845, it crossed the ocean to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1945, one hundred years later the organization arrived in Phoenix, Arizona and a Conference in Tucson at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Parish was formally established June 29, 1953.
Today, St. Vincent de Paul in Tucson continues to provide personal, one-on-one assistance to individuals of all faiths, all colors and all cultures.s
