Minutes after the door opens, several customers are already combing through the racks of the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Fredericksburg. The homey, well-organized shop is full of clothes, books, knickknacks, cookware, and this time of year, lots of festive seasonal decor. To volunteer Terry Mann, it always feels like the most wonderful time of the year at the thrift store. “When you walk in or when people are bringing things, you never know what you’re going to find — it’s like Christmas every day,” he said.
In addition to providing the community with affordable goods, the volunteer-run thrift store raises funds for the St. Vincent de Paul Society to give to the needy. In the last fiscal year, the store raised more than $188,000 for the St. Mary Conference in Fredericksburg, composed of members from St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church and St. Jude Church, also in Fredericksburg. More importantly, through their work they were able to share God’s love with the community, said Kitty Colville, conference president. “We’re here to be Christ to the people that come in the store,” she said.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society was founded in 1883 with the mission of providing service to the poor while growing in friendship and spirituality. The St. Mary Conference is one of 11 conferences supported by 13 parishes in the Arlington diocese. In the last fiscal year, all the conferences in the Arlington Council provided $2.3 million in direct assistance to those in need and additional aid through five food pantries. SVDP leadership hopes recruiting more Vincentians will help them serve even more.
Larry Ferguson, a parishioner of St. Louis Church in Alexandria, recently became president of the St. Vincent de Paul Arlington Council while the former president Paul “Korky” Korkemaz, a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Vienna, became the SVDP national vice president of the mid-Atlantic region. Both would like to grow the Vincentians’ presence in the area. Ferguson hopes to double the number of SVDP conferences in the diocese by 2026.
Though many parishes engage in charity works, Ferguson believes that the St. Vincent de Paul Society format is a great way to allow Catholics to serve the poor and grow closer to Christ together. “It’s more organization, more fundraising capability, but it’s also the ability for more parishioners to serve the poor,” he said. Many parishes have a paid staffer who takes calls from people in need. “Why not have 20 people, all volunteers, and give them the opportunity to do the will of God by helping the poor?” he asked.
“God bless the people who write a check for charity. However, they’re hands off,” said Korkemaz. “You’re missing (being hands-on) by not being a Vincentian.”
Echoing the words of Christ, Korkemaz noted that the poor will always be here. “We like to be ready,” he said.
Much of the Vincentians’ work involves meeting face-to-face with clients, known as friends, to better understand their situation and assess how SVDP can help. Their goal is to help the friend overcome a temporary crisis by paying up to a few hundred dollars, typically toward their rent or utility bills. If they need more assistance, the Vincentians can help them avoid a payday loan through the SVDP Alternative Loan Program.
Along with helping their neighbors in need avoid eviction and keep the lights on, Vincentians can provide vouchers to the thrift store or point friends toward other local resources. Maureen Jones, store manager, recently spoke to a man who had high energy bills. So she connected him with a free local weatherization program. “He was thrilled because he was paying like $400 for electricity because he had an old house with a lot of drafts,” she said.
Each week, members of the St. Mary Conference meet with 20 individuals and families for half an hour or more to discuss their situation and pray with them. “The stories are enough to break your heart,” said Colville. “I had a woman with five children last week, one of whom was severely disabled. She had emergency medical issues and had to quit her job. Her husband also has serious medical problems, and she was the only income. In the corporate world, people save your job when you’re sick, but that doesn’t happen with lower-end jobs.”
Though the woman was one of the last of the night, she wanted to keep talking, said Colville. “People want somebody to hear their story,” she said. “The happiest thing from Thursday night interviewing (is that) we really touch each other’s souls. Often someone will give you a hug or they’ll have tears of joy that somebody heard them. It’s a powerful thing to get to do that.”
Maraist can be reached at [email protected] or X (formerly Twitter) @zoeymaraistACH.
Find out more
Go to svdparlington.org.
