Our local St Vincent de Paul Conference is calling for volunteers.  Carole Garvey, a Vincentian spoke recently at St Joseph’s Mass about the types of roles they are looking to fill.

What is the “work” of our local SVdP conference in Dalby?

We are referred to as Vincentians and we have a desire to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Those who need our help are called companions and we are available 4 mornings a week from 9.30 until 11.30. We can be contacted by phone, a knock on the door or referrals from the 1800 phone number. We work in pairs both for support and safety.

What type of support do you give?

Our greatest call is for food vouchers, accommodation, fuel, clothing, prescriptions, furniture and household goods. We occasionally will help with outstanding accounts to enable our companions some breathing space and to get back on their feet. Similar to other local charities, we have supported companions through fire, flood and drought and continue with follow up support until it is no longer needed.

We receive enormous support from the students and parents of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, who are always very generous with donations for our Christmas hampers and raffles throughout the year. The Parish also gives us great support, particularly during our Winter Appeal.  While money and goods are very welcome and we will never say no, but we also need volunteers and people to be part of our Conference.

Why do you need volunteers?

As with all our local organisations, we are an ageing population and gaining members is becoming more difficult. In 2023, the Society’s members and volunteers, Australia wide, totalled 38,127. This sounds a lot and it is but it is still almost 17,000 fewer than in 2017. While we have fewer members, the number of people we are asked to assist continues to increase. Our work is just as, if not more, important and necessary than it has ever been.

So what skills do I need to have, what time do I need to set aside if I want to consider becoming a Vincentian. Can I manage it if I’m still raising a family? Will I be any good at it? Is it for me?

Let’s take one thing at a time. Skills – you need to be compassionate, patient and willing to listen. We know we can’t fix all our companions’ problems. What we can do is sit with them, listen to their most pressing needs, offer what help we can, whether its food or baby goods, clothing and toiletries for the person who has left jail and has next to nothing, a night’s accommodation so they can have a hot shower and a warm bed – anything that gives respite to the immediate difficulties they are facing.  Naturally discretion is an absolute must. It helps that we work in pairs and can share and discuss the case we have just seen.

What time do I need to set aside? 

We meet every Monday night for an hour at 6pm. We have prayers and a reading, read out the week’s cases so that everyone is aware of what’s happening with our companions, sometimes make suggestions of further help available and then general business. An hour a week that’s all. If you can only manage 1 Monday night a month, please make it the second Monday of the month. Then you can collect bread at 5.45, attend a meeting and help pack the bread away into the freezer – we will take whatever is offered. If you are still working and short on time we can still find a job for you.

If and when you decide you would like to be seeing companions and helping face to face – it is 2 hours, 9.30 to 11.30. Sometimes this runs over if we are particularly busy, sometimes we have a quiet morning. We had to stop seeing companions on a Thursday as we didn’t have enough Vincentians to fill the role but we are open all other week days. If you would like to see companions but can’t commit to a day a week we can use you as a fill in. If someone is sick, has a funeral, on holidays, whatever and can’t do their shift, we ring around to find another member to take the shift that day.

Will I be any good at it and is it for me?  You won’t know if you don’t try it. This work is not for everyone. It can be confronting. You will need to learn not to take other people’s problems home with you, you can’t lie awake at night thinking of what more you could have done. But as a Conferenec we are here to support you.  It can be difficult at times, you may feel annoyed or frustrated with companions who continually present with the same problems needing assistance.  However, it is in these situations that we call upon our faith and the works of Jesus to show compassion, dignity and love for our fellow community members.

It is incredibly rewarding work. Despite the frustrations at times, the changes we don’t want to be part of because we become set in our ways, this work is a privilege. When you see the relief our companions feel at receiving some help, or the gratitude because you listened and cared, or the change you were able to help with, you have received so much more than you gave.

Please contact Carole Garvey 0408438272 or metrocarole@gmail.com if you would like more information on how you can help.