Our Mission and History
Our Mission
Our Mission
Our Mission
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is dedicated to helping those less fortunate so they can get back on their feet and live more productive and joyful lives.
We are part of an international society of friends, inspired by Gospel values, united by a spirit of poverty, humility, and sharing, and building a more just world through service to people in need.
Our History
Our Mission
Our Mission
The Society was founded in 1833 in Paris by Frédéric Ozanam. As a college student, Ozanam and his companions were moved by the plight of the poor and challenged to put their Catholic faith into action. They adopted St. Vincent de Paul as the Society’s patron because he cared for the poor, forgotten and downtrodden of Paris.
The first SV
The Society was founded in 1833 in Paris by Frédéric Ozanam. As a college student, Ozanam and his companions were moved by the plight of the poor and challenged to put their Catholic faith into action. They adopted St. Vincent de Paul as the Society’s patron because he cared for the poor, forgotten and downtrodden of Paris.
The first SVDP presence in the US was established in 1845 in St. Louis, MO, where the headquarters remain.
US membership totals nearly 100,000 in 4,500 communities. The District Council in Palm Beach was incorporated in 1960, while the Jupiter Conference was incorporated in 2005 and serves as a ministry of the St. Peter Catholic Church in Jupiter, FL.