I Am St. Vincent: St. Patrick’s & Our Conference System
“There’s not a day that I’m here that I don’t go home feeling like I got more out of it than anything that I gave.” -Tom Long
Conferences are the basic volunteer unit of St. Vincent de Paul, world-wide. Most frequently, Conferences are Catholic Parishes, made up of parish volunteers called ‘Vincentians’ dedicated to helping those in need in their neighborhood. Conferences can also be special works and university chapters. There are more than 4,000 Conferences operating in the United States and 12 of those Conferences, (Catholic Parishes) operate as part of St. Vincent de Paul of Tacoma, Pierce County. The positions in Conferences are similar to those of a Board of Directors with a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and members. These are all unpaid volunteer roles: those who serve in such a way do so because they feel a calling to help their community.
Because St. Vincent de Paul is a “lay Catholic” organization and therefore not under the control of the Catholic Church, all twelve of the local parishes that joined our local organization have done so because they want to help their communities. St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Tacoma is one such Conference, headed by Tom Long.
Long first became a Vincentian in 2019 and is now the elected President for St. Patrick’s Conference. Though he cited the benefit of camaraderie with fellow Vincentians and the opportunity to help others in need know that they don’t have to face their struggles alone, his reasons for choosing to be a Vincentian run deeper. “There’s not a day that I’m here that I don’t go home feeling like I got more out of it than anything I gave… Helping people teaches us a lot about ourselves. It also teaches us a lot about the world we live in. It teaches us humility and goodness. For by the grace of God, we’re all very vulnerable. Life could change dramatically for any of us, at any time.”
Including St. Patrick, the 12 Conferences in Pierce County are Holy Disciples in Puyallup, St. Charles Borromeo in Tacoma, St. John Bosco in Lakewood, St. Frances Cabrini in Lakewood, St. Andrew in Sumner, Sts. Cosmas & Damian in Orting, St. Paul Chong Hasang in Fife, Sacred Heart in Tacoma, St. Martin of Tours in Fife, St. Nicholas in Gig Harbor, and Our Lady Queen of Heaven in Tacoma. Collectively, they make up a total of nearly 200 volunteers or Vincentians.
Vincentians from these local Conferences go in pairs to do what’s known as “home visits” to people who need help and learn what kind of assistance is most needed. If the person asking for help is experiencing homelessness, their ‘home visit’ will often take place in library parking lots or other public spaces.
What type of help Conferences provide depends, in part, on what is needed: Conferences help with everything from buying bus tickets to ensure job interviews and medical appointments don’t get missed, all the way to helping families weather financial disaster with rental and utility assistance. The money to support the work they do largely comes from the donations raised in their parish.
Also, Conferences often collaborate with the caseworkers at the St Vinnie’s Community Resource Center to ensure we are helping as many people as we can by combining financial resources and referrals. Collectively, last year the Conferences and the Community Resource Center assisted more than 33,000 people and provided more than $1M in financial assistance in Pierce County.