Welcome to St Vincent De Paul
             of Contra Costa

Enrichment, intellectual growth, career development and social awareness are all some of the more typical aspects of the college experience.

In addition to these more common interests that are pursued, the students’ values, ideals and spiritual attitudes will be influenced by the “college” experience.

A College Conference or Conference of Younger People can be relatively self sufficient, requiring only
minimal guidance and input from an Advisor.

Furthermore, a College or Conference of Younger People’s relationship with the local District Council should be similar to that of an Adult Parish Conference.

To find out more about starting a “College Young Adult Conference” in your University, or College. Please contact Stephen Krank at (925)439-5060 ext.28 or by Email.

Dear Vincentians:

Several of us had the opportunity to attend the Western Regional SVdP Conference held in Everett, Washington. It was a spirit-filled meeting with much learning, celebration, fellowship, prayer, and sharing. The Orientation focused on our mission statement to grow spiritually by offering service to the needy and suffering. Our mission is grounded in Scripture, of which one passage is Matthew 25:37 “When did you see me hungry, etc?” As I see it, as Vincentians it is our responsibility to convert words into action. The Orientation session is convincing in suggesting that all Vincentians should attend an Orientation. Another primary focus was the importance of home visits.

The Council Support Services led by Stephen Krank has been extremely active assisting many Conferences. Included are giving several “Invitations to Serve” Orientation programs, setting up new Conferences, and helping to set up a new food bank at St. Peter Martyr in Pittsburg. The Council is available for assistance to any Conference who needs help to grow and resolve difficult situations. Additionally, we are working on a web-based reporting system so the Conferences can easily facilitate client call record keeping and reporting. We are waiting to see if National adopts a system which will help tie in all Conferences.

We are also excited to inform you that the City of Pittsburg Planning Commission has approved our request for a Dining Room cut out from our Pittsburg warehouse. This is to be a joint venture with Loaves & Fishes to feed the needy 5 days a week. We expect to be feeding 125 plus people a day. The next steps are working drawings, completing an agreement with Loaves & Fishes, fund raising, and building the Dining Room. We expect to be open in 6 months. This will be an opportunity to get a team of 4 or more Vincentians together to work one day a month in the Dining Room. This a good chance to offer person-to-person service to the needy as quoted in our mission statement.

Of course, we will need to raise money to fund the Dining Room, so please let us know of any sources, such as foundations, grants, etc. Additionally, we would like to expand the SVdP Contra Costa Board. There are
other exciting things that the Board is working on besides the dining room, such as a medical clinic and job training. We welcome Vincentians’ who want to be part of a dynamic and spiritual board and who are dreamers as well as doers. Please call Ron Weston or myself if you are interested. In closing, I must say these are challenging but rewarding times for all of us and our clients. There are many things that we can accomplish together. We look forward to working together in this greater Vincentian family.

Sincerely,

Jim Noe, President

By Ed Ragen
“To always have the resources of donated food, household goods and volunteer time to provide an ongoing supply for Conferences in the County serving those most affected by the downturn in the economy” Stated Ed Regan a long time Conference member at St. Mary’s Parish.

“Leadership positions in the Society, at any level, are always to be accepted as service to Christ, the members, and the poor.” As a growing Vincentian Family incoming President (Denise Barkasy), and outgoing President (Jim Scott) from St. Mary’s Conference set example of partnership by their service. (December)

A special year end thank you to St. Isidore’s. Going into the fall of 2008, Conferences in some of the more impoverished areas of Contra Costa County have been struggling to meet the needs of those of us experiencing poverty. Specifically, through the support of St. Isidore’s Conference of the Society of St. Vincent DePaul and the Knights of Columbus who went above and beyond, including new boundaries of the Contra Costa as part of their Vincentian Family. Children had gifts, families had delicious meals for Christmas and several Conferences who continue to not be able meet the needs of the volume of people they serve were shored up financially.

Thank you for including all of us in your family.

For many nonprofits, the Board of Directors and Executive Board are primarily positions of recognition for years of service, honor, respect for contributions, for the investment of time and resources.

Archbishop Romero once stated “We are Stewards of a future that is not our own”.

Almost eight years ago the Society of St. Vincent DePaul in Contra Costa County was on the verge of being insolvent. Like many of Bay Area NGO’s, the Society in Contra Costa had maintained a committed focus to the core work of the Society.

The world as we knew it was changing for nonprofits like St. Vincent de Paul. Our thrift stores and Auto Donation Program that had developed over the years as a source of material goods and some financial support for the Conferences. Warehouse Job Training Operations, District Council and any other Special Works Programs were no longer as efficient as sources of revenue.

Our Stores began to compete with retail stores like Wal-Mart and other nonprofits who, out of necessity, shifted their focus into “The Business of Thrift Store Marketing” and merchandising.
Our Board of Directors made some hard choices, a number of Stores were closed. Ron Westin became our Executive Director with a focus on reducing our services to those that were the most efficacious and shifted to sustainable support, primarily for those we serve through our network of Conferences in Contra Costa County.

This stewardship of having done the right thing, when it was needed to be done, placed the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County in a position of leadership for the work of the Society, as it is most needed with the change in the economy as we close the first decade of the new Millennium.

Part of the restructuring for our Auto Donation Program was the joining of resources with the District Councils of Society of St. Vincent DePaul in Alameda, San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin Counties to better coordinate, service our customers and make the program more cost effective.

Based on the cost effectiveness of this change, at the final 2008 District Council Meeting of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County, the Board passed a resolution that created a fund where * Conferences in Good Standing, will be able to access support and emergency funds, using 10% of the revenue generated from the Auto Donation as the funding source.

*Conference in Good Standing: Meets regularly as a Conference, Attends at
least four District Council or Regional Meetings a year and submits their
reports and statistics to the District Council in a timely manor.