St. Vincent De Paul
The St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) of St. Barnabas is a parish based and supported outreach group which helps those in need in our local area, in the city and internationally. It is supported by the generous donations of time, talent and financial resources of our parishioners and is not affiliated with any national organization.
The main focus of our St. Vincent de Paul has always been to help meet the needs of local families through confidential home visits and to provide assistance as needed with food, utilities, rent, medicine, clothing, furniture, computers, car repairs, gas cards, and referrals to social service agencies, as well as emotional support. Care is taken to keep all help confidential and protect the personal dignity of those we serve. Our SVDP serves all residents in our area, not just parishioners.
The St. Vincent de Paul outreach also extends to our friends in need in the city. In collaboration with other urban and suburban parishes and our commitment to Church in the City, our SVDP operates an Ozanam Center in Slavic Village at Holy Name Church. Our SVDP provides financial support and our own parish volunteers to the center that offers a food pantry, clothing bank, hot meals, wellness clinic & miscellaneous assistance. We also provide volunteers to the Ozanam Center at Visitation of Mary parish in Akron.
International outreach includes a direct assistance program to our friends in need in the San Pedro parish in Teotepeque, El Salvador. We provide funds for special needs, such as metal roofing for homes, medical bills, and shoes and lunches for students among other things. The program, “Obras de Caridad”, is overseen by the local pastor in Teotepeque.
The following are some of the ongoing programs sponsored by our SVDP:
- Ozanam Center at Holy Name parish in Cleveland (volunteers and financial support)
- Ozanam Center at Visitation of Mary parish in Akron (volunteers)
- Hot Meal at Holy Name parish (volunteers and financial support)
- Hot Lunch at OPEN M ecumenical outreach center in Akron (volunteers and financial support)
- Food Pantry at St. Barnabas to provide food all year round for local families, as well as gift cards for fresh food from the grocery (our families with young children organize food drives and maintain the pantry)
- Food deliveries to local families at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas
- Food drives to benefit our Food Pantry at St. Barnabas
- Food and clothing drives to benefit the Ozanam Center at Holy Name
- Furniture pick-ups to benefit the Cleveland Furniture Bank& Thrift Store
- Emergency help for transients
- Back-to-School supplies drive
- Blanket Sunday collection
- Bundle Sunday collections for household goods, clothing,& furniture
- Winter clothing collection for the homeless
- HM Life – assistance for extra needs of participants in this local, residential, life skills program for single mothers with children
- El Salvador mission – direct assistance program
- OPEN M – Volunteers for medical clinic, tutoring, and other programs at this ecumenical outreach program in Akron
- Christmas Giving Tree- collection of approximately 1500 gifts for delivery to local families and various social service agencies.
- We provide financial assistance to the Sisters of the Incarnate Word in Parma for food gift cards for their needy clients.
- As our finances permit, we collaborate monetarily with other Catholic outreach groups