St. Vincent de Paul helps Western Washington needy 213,000 times with basic needs assistance in 2010

Jan. 20, 2011 - PRLog -- WESTERN WASHINGTON….The Society of St. Vincent de Paul helped needy people 213,000 times with basic needs assistance across Western Washington during the 2010 fiscal year through home visits and outreaches of its 99 all-volunteer, neighborhood-based conferences and five regional councils. A total of $23.3 million was spent to help the poor by the Catholic lay-run charity during its 90th anniversary year in Washington State. A remarkable 96% of all expenses were spent on programs to help neighbors in need—only 4% for overhead.    

Preventing eviction, hunger, utility shut-off and other needs are major impacts of the outreach. St. Vincent de Paul’s all-volunteer groups made home visits to needy households to understand individual needs and provide targeted assistance on the spot. One of the benefits of these home visits was to remove barriers of access for those with disability, transportation or childcare challenges.

Other Society programs included pregnancy support services to women in Tacoma, operating one of the largest food banks in Seattle which provided 1.6 million meals, a Women’s Shelter in Bremerton that hosts 18 homeless women and children, a Beds for Children program that has provided 1500 beds over the last five years in Everett and North Sound, the largest food bank in Longview and surrounding region, and a Food and Clothing outreach in Vancouver. In addition, 15 thrift stores provided affordable clothing and household items for people needing to stretch their budgets. 16 million pounds (8000 tons) of materials were recycled or reused, keeping them out of landfills.

Key Service Statistics for 2010:
• Volunteer hours given: 223,000 hours
• Total Councils and neighborhood conferences program services expenditures: $23.3
  million
   - Financial and material assistance and program services expenditure provided by 99
      neighborhood-based volunteer groups: $12.9 million
   - Program services expenditures by five St. Vincent de Paul Councils: $10.4 million
• 96% of total expenditures were used for programs needy—only 4 % for overhead in Western WA
• 16 million pounds (8000 tons) of materials were reused or recycled, lessening the waste
  stream in our community; the Society has fostered reduce, recycle and reuse in  
  Washington since 1926

“I am thankful for the tremendous support of individuals, businesses, churches and organizations and the generous gift of service of our volunteers, members and staff. In challenging times, we were there to help neighbors in need and we look forward to expanding outreach in 2011 to help vulnerable people,” said Joseph Roberts, President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Western Washington.

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St. Vincent de Paul is known for its 99 neighborhood-based, all-volunteer groups across Western Washington, thrift stores, food distribution programs, and other community outreaches to help neighbors in need. It is part of the international Society of St. Vincent de Paul which helps the poor in 142 nations and was a 2008 Nobel Peace Prize nominee.