When Vincent de Paul entered the priesthood, his motivation was primarily ambition. As a priest, he served the powerful De Gondi family as tutor and spiritual leader. And in 1617 he had his conversion experience. In the small French village of Faureville, Vincent encountered equality and dignity for people experiencing poverty. Transformed, he began a mission to serve the spiritual and material needs of the poor.
Faced with suffering in a complex social reality, Madame Gondi asked Vincent, “What must we do?” That question became the key to Vincentian spirituality.
In 1643, King Louis XIII left Vincent de Paul the equivalent of $1 million as a gift for this mission. After years of war and epidemics, poverty was widespread in France and many orphans were born. Vincent used his bequest to build 13 small houses around Saint-Lazare, the headquarters of the Missionary Ministry in Paris.
Today, the Vincentians continue this mission of providing safe housing to the homeless. In 2018, the Pham Binh Homeless Alliance launched the 13 House Campaign to refocus attention on safe housing, with the goal of supporting 10,000 people by 2024. The goal was achieved by December 2023 with 102 partner projects in 64 countries.
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Homelessness and housing insecurity remain problems both globally and regionally. An estimated 100 million people around the world experience homelessness, and 1.6 billion lack adequate housing and basic services. In the United States, the Department of Housing and Urban Development reports that 653,104 people experienced homelessness last year. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that in 2019, 17.6 million households, including renters and owners, were severely cost-burdened and spent more than 50% of their income on housing alone. In 2023, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Balakrishnan Rajagopal said the number of siblings living with housing insecurity is projected to rise to nearly 3 billion by 2030.
In January 2024, I had the opportunity to see the 13 House Campaign in action at the international conference on slum dwellers in Fam Binh, “Empowering Individuals and Communities: Vincentian Action in the Slums,” held in Manila. Blessed. The World Bank estimates that in 2020, about 37 percent of Manila’s urban population lived in slums. By definition, slums are informal or inadequate housing, often without adequate space, access to affordable clean drinking water, adequate sanitation, and safe housing rights. Vincentian Missionaries Social Development Foundation, Inc., located in Quezon City, just north of Manila, is working to address the insecurity and dangers of slum living by building communities alongside housing.
Operations Manager Celestino “Intoy” Rosete, Jr. said the Vincentian Foundation’s approach to sustainable development includes a dynamic and holistic approach to pabahay (housing), pabhay (livelihood) and pamayanan (community). He explained that it includes a strong focus. The foundation nicely incorporates Pope Francis’ emphasis on land, labor and accommodation, and more directly incorporates local communities.
The Vincentian Foundation project I visited called “Bamboo Village” is the result of a partnership with the Base Baha’i Foundation and utilizes bamboo concrete frame technology to build homes that are resistant to typhoons and earthquakes. But housing is just the beginning in this dedicated village with accessible housing for families with special needs children and elderly family members. Rosete said the project’s goal is to “build a community of love and generosity where everyone can feel and experience a sense of belonging.” In addition to housing, the site also includes gardens, a community center, and small business space. Villages are a long-term but temporary option. Families purchase land and are guaranteed housing security while working toward the goal of owning their own home. As I walked around Bamboo Village, the vibrancy and interconnectedness fostered by the safety of the homes was evident.
“Charity is the cement that binds communities to God and people to each other,” St. Vincent asserted. By uniting different strata of society, Vincent organized and built a philanthropic community as strong as cement. His mission continues through the work of the Vincentian Foundation in Manila and here in the United States. In his more than 4,000 parishes across the United States, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul continues to coordinate charitable efforts for neighbors in need.
In his message for World Poverty Day 2023, Pope Francis said: “We call on us to abandon indifference and platitudes we make in order to protect an illusory happiness, and to recognize all poor people and all forms of poverty.” “You are being treated,” he reminded her. His call to discipleship is a call to an encounter like that experienced by St. Vincent in the village of Faureville. This is a special challenge, Pope Francis explained, explaining that “while pressures for an affluent lifestyle increase, the voices of people living in poverty tend to be ignored.”
Reflecting on what we learned in Manila, we realized that broader organizational challenges require an integrated approach. We must resist insensitivity to the challenges of poverty and focus on building both dignified housing and thriving communities. In the face of housing insecurity and homelessness in our community, we are continually asked, “What must we do?”
This article also appears in the May 2024 issue of US Catholic (Vol. 89, No. 5, pages 40-41). Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
Image: Shutterstock/I Wei Huang
