Who we are

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Indianapolis Archdiocesan Council, Inc. (SVdP Indy) started in the 1940s to serve people living in poverty, regardless of religious affiliations, race or national origin. Since that time, our ministry has spread throughout Central and Southern Indiana. Wherever we are, we strive to meet the immediate basic physical needs of the most vulnerable in our communities. We do that by providing food, clothing, transportation, shelter and, ultimately, sustainable paths out of poverty. As a 501(c)(3), we depend on the support of donors, businesses and other community partners to continue our ministry.

Inspired by Gospel values, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international organization of lay men and women joined together in their spiritual growth and through the offering of person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering.

We endeavor to serve the poor cheerfully, listening to them well and helping them to feel and recover their own dignity. We seek to establish relationships based on empathy, trust and friendship, while observing the utmost confidentiality.

Inherent in our work, we strive to promote self-sufficiency. Our mission is to help the poor help help themselves whenever possible, and to be aware that they can forge and change their own destinies and that of our local community. Learn more about our transformational philosophy in our Changing Lives Forever program.

The Society is also concerned with identifying the unjust systemic reasons that cause poverty. We are committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and to work toward their elimination. In all of our charitable actions is the search for social justice for all.

History

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 by Frederic Ozanam, a 20-year-old student of Sorbonne University in Paris, Frederic and a group of fellow students began to seek out and visit the poor of Paris in their homes – taking them food and clothing and offering their friendship and concern. This small group adopted, as their Patron, the great French priest St. Vincent de Paul, who alerted the world to social problems.

Similar groups grew in Paris, then to the rest of France, and eventually spread throughout the Christian world with the purpose of visiting those in need as an extension of God’s love. Currently the Society of SVdP has approximately 900,000 members in 151 different countries.

Frederic Ozanam was was declared Blessed in Paris, France, on August 22, 1997, by Pope John Paul II.