St. Vincent de Paul

Portland, Works of Mercy

St. Vincent de Paul

Ways to help and ways to be helped

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a lay Catholic organization that runs local "conferences," small volunteer groups tied to a parish, that visit families in need and help directly with rent, utilities, food, and other emergencies. A conference is run by volunteers, not paid staff, and most conferences serve a specific parish boundary or a small cluster of parishes.

Call the number listed for your area. Many conferences take messages and call back, sometimes the same day and sometimes not until evening or the next business day, because the volunteer on call is not sitting by a desk phone. Be ready to say what you need (rent, utilities, food, or something else) and where you live, since most conferences can only help inside their own parish boundary or service area and will point you to the right one if you call the wrong number.

What this list does not cover yet: The Portland Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's own service area covers Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties plus the Lower Columbia River and north coast. The archdiocese extends south to Salem and Eugene; no district council serving that area was found, so this list does not cover it yet.

See a wrong number or a chapter we are missing? Email us at [email protected] and we will fix it.