Society of St Vincent de Paul at St Michaels Catholic Community is a lay catholic not-for-profit that helps economically vulnerable people in Calgary with emergency food hampers and assistance meeting basic needs.
We support the communities of Cougar Ridge, West Springs, Aspen Woods, Patterson, Coach Hill, Wildwood, Spruce Cliff, Shaganappi, Rosscarrock, Westgate, Christy Park, Strathcona, and Prominence Point.
Our History
The Society of Saint de Paul was founded in 1834 in Paris by students at the Universite de Paris, led by Frederic Ozanam who knew that faith must be translated into action by the practice of charity. From a conference of 6 students, the Society became an international organization serving in 150 countries
In response to the growing needs for assistance in our community in Calgary, Father Len Hagel (then pastor of St Michael Catholic Community) invited the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul to start a chapter. The first meeting was held on January 12, 1994 . Since then the society has grown to over 50 Vincentians .Three of our original members are still active. We obtained our aggregation from the Council General in Paris on May13, 1996.
The society started with humble beginnings with $80 in food voucher and renting out stairwell storage room which was large enough to accommodate an upright freezer to use as a Larder for food storage to be used in food hampers.
True to the roots of the Society, we begged to cover the first request for utilities assistance and members frequently provided hamper contents out of their own pantries and freezers. In the spirit of sharing resources, a $2,000 gift from St. Bonaventure Conference put us on our feet as we were struggling to meet the needs.
Today with the support of our benefactors and the parish, we have grown to over 50 volunteers and have a spacious larder to provide for the over 30 requests we receive every month.
Our Values
The Mission of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SSVP) is to live the Gospel message by serving disadvantaged individuals within our parish boundaries with respect, justice, and joy … regardless of creed, ethnicity, or point of view. Members meet regularly to pray, deepen their understanding of the Society, share ideas, discuss challenges encountered in serving the poor, and develop fellowship. Our funding is entirely derived from the parishioners of St Michael Catholic Community who donate with great generosity, kindness, and thoughtfulness, for which we are eternally grateful.
Our Service
In 30 years, our service has evolved from providing food assistance to responding to the needs for rent, utilities, prescriptions, moving assistance, medical equipment, dental assistance, transportation, laptops for students, etc… No work of charity is foreign to The Society. The generosity of our benefactors at St. Michaels has enabled us in these difficult economic times to keep many from homelessness especially women and to keep the power on in many homes. Our goal in providing assistance is to bridge individuals to sustainability, not to create dependency. We honour our responsibility for good stewardship of the resources entrusted to us by assessing each situation and making referrals where appropriate. We serve anyone who calls on us. In our encounters, we seek to bring God’s presence and hope in a spirit of love, compassion, humility and respect. We are honoured to serve the needy and it is a privilege to distribute your gifts for which we are profoundly grateful.
“Help honours when, to the bread that nourishes, it adds the visit that consoles, the advice that enlightens, the friendly shake of the hand that lifts up sinking courage; when it treats the poor man with respect, not only as an equal but as a superior, since he is suffering that which we would perhaps not be able to bear ourselves; since he is among us as the messenger of God, sent to put our justice and charity to the test, and to save us by our works.”
(Frederic Ozanam, from an article in l’Ère nouvelle, October 21, 1848)
