The Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA, which serves more than 5 million people living in poverty a year, announced Jan. 27 it will open a second national office in Washington this year to advocate on issues related to poverty and homelessness and to expand the organization’s presence among policymakers in the nation’s capital.
Speaking at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, the society’s National President John Berry said the time was right to take a bold approach to highlighting the causes of homelessness and the steps that can be taken to reduce the number of people who are unhoused.
“The Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s unique, personal approach to supporting so many people in need provides a distinct and important platform to drive awareness of how to help at-risk populations,” Berry said. “Homelessness continues to be a pressing issue that is often forgotten. We will use our experience and our national platform to drive greater awareness of this crisis and work to provide solutions that work.”
The soon-to-be named director of the Washington office will help lead the organization’s advocacy efforts, with an initial focus on homelessness among the elderly and families with children.
In December, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “point-in-time” estimate found more than 770,000 people in the U.S were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2024. That was an 18 percent increase from 2023. This year’s point-in-time survey was conducted Jan. 22.
“Helping these vulnerable populations is something that everybody, right or left, conservative or liberal, can support,” Berry said. “SVdP USA was recently recognized as the 59th largest nonprofit in the United States, and it is only natural that an organization with a national and global impact as large as ours, should use the knowledge and front-line experience that we uniquely obtain through our work to engage in debate and policy creation at the highest levels.”
The Catholic Social Ministry Gathering is organized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and this year’s theme, “Missionaries of Hope, Advocates for Justice,” recognized the call to be beacons of God’s love.
Keynote speakers for the four-day conference included his Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, USCCB president; Emile Cuda, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, The Holy See; and Yakima, Wash., Bishop Joseph J. Tyson.
The society’s headquarters will remain in St. Louis.
