Society of St. Vincent de Paul® Assisting Storm and Flood Survivors

ST. LOUIS, June 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is helping people in Texas and other states devastated by storms and floods over the past few weeks. SVdP members (Vincentians) on the ground are assisting the survivors with immediate needs as well as long-term help. The SVdP National Council is conducting a campaign to raise funds to help the survivors of these disasters.

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Given the needs of people in the disaster-impacted areas, SVdP will be providing some initial assistance, while focusing on its primary role of long-term recovery efforts. Immediate needs will require special gift cards that can be used for: temporary housing, childcare, gasoline, prescription medications and other medical needs.

Long-term recovery efforts will include Disaster Case Management services and the House in a Box^® program. The House in a Box program supplies disaster survivors with critical items to furnish an entire home from the kitchen to the bathroom to the bedroom, including furniture, dishes, towels, pots and pans, utensils, and bed linens.

"…ended up in their car…in a tree"   
Vincentian volunteers from the SVdP Tyler Council are helping people in the Van, Texas region.

"We have assisted 30 families with gift cards for gas or other needs, such as replacing an air-conditioning unit for a woman with medical issues, and deposits for rent and utilities. We also helped with hotel accommodations for three families and provided rental property information for people," said Carolyn Quenneville, a Vincentian volunteer.

SVdP members helped one family in the Van, Texas area that had been trapped on top of a tree.

"One of our families consisted of a husband and wife and their three week-old baby who all ended up in their car in the top of a big oak tree when they tried to outrun the tornado from their mobile home," Quenneville said. "All were well and they obtained a rental home with our help."

Throughout Texas and Oklahoma, SVdP members are helping families by providing gift cards and other resources as well as conducting needs assessments and Disaster Case Management for the families affected by the storms, floods and tornadoes.

"The severity of these storms has created widespread destruction," said Elizabeth Disco-Shearer, COO of the SVdP's Disaster Services Division. "For example, there has been infrastructure damage in 167 out of 254 counties in Texas. The damage and the need for assistance are of the same proportions as we provided to the survivors of Hurricane Katrina."

After this initial phase of the flood and tornado response, SVdP's Disaster Services Division will provide the logistics and support for the House in a Box program for the SVdP Councils to help the storm survivors get their lives back in order.

How to Help

The SVdP National Council's Domestic Disaster Relief Fund was established to assist local SVdP Councils and Conferences (chapters) in providing direct assistance to people in situational poverty as a result of natural and man-made disasters to get their lives back in order.

To support the ongoing disaster work of SVdP and help those affected by these disasters, visit the SVdP National Council website at www.svdpusa.org.

Or a check can be sent to:

National Council of the United States       
Society of St. Vincent de Paul         
58 Progress Parkway         
Maryland Heights, MO 63043-3706       
(Be sure to write "Domestic Disaster Relief Fund" in the memo field.)

One of the largest and oldest charitable organizations in the world, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (www.svdpusa.org) is an international, nonprofit, Catholic lay organization of about 800,000 men and women who voluntarily join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to the needy and suffering in 150 countries on five continents. The Society was founded in Paris, France in 1833 and it spread to the U.S. in 1845. With the U.S. headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., membership in the United States totals more than 90,000 in 4,400 communities. 

SVdP offers a variety of programs and services, including: home visits, housing assistance, disaster relief, job training and placement, food pantries, dining halls, clothing, and assistance with transportation and utility costs. The Society works to provide care for the sick, the incarcerated and the elderly, as well as prescription medicine. 

SVdP provides over $794 million in tangible and in-kind services, serves more than 11 million people each year and conducts more than 1.7 million personal visits (home, hospitals, prisons and more). Each year, SVdP performs more than 11 million hours of volunteer service to aid those in need.

For more information about this release, please contact:   
Gary Stevens at (314) 576-3993 ext. 209 or (314) 378-5583 or e-mail 

SOURCE Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Related Links

http://www.svdpusa.org