JUPITER | If it wasn’t for their thrift stores, most people would be unfamiliar with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
But it’s a lot more than a place you can go to find a bargain.
Mostly flying under the radar and with little fanfare, the St. Vincent de Paul Society helps anyone in need of life’s essentials, said Kate Devine, president of the society’s Diocese of Palm Beach district, which comprises parishes in Palm Beach County.
“Our No. 1 priority is to fulfill the Gospel and increase the spirituality of our members,” who include those working as volunteers in the organization, she said. “The second thing is to take care of the poor. You can’t help someone if you have an empty basket. So, you’ve got to fill yourself first, spiritually, and then secondly, we do things.”
The things done by St. Vincent de Paul include helping people pay their rent, utility and medical bills, get free food and avoid foreclosure on their home. In certain cases, those in need will be given items to set up their household. Most of that assistance is provided at the parish level, by Vincentians in the St. Vincent de Paul conferences. Some parishes allow poor boxes in church or periodic collections for St. Vincent de Paul.
“Our breadth (of aid) is deep and far and wide, and it’s a beautiful thing because we don’t have to fit into a box,” said Devine, who has been involved in St. Vincent de Paul since she was a child in New York. “Do we have money every month for rent? No, because we work on donations.”
She explained that the St. Vincent de Paul Society has an international presence based in France, national headquarters in Missouri, a regional base in Georgia and district/diocesan councils in each Florida diocese. For nearly 12 years, she has been the conference president at St. Paul of the Cross Parish in North Palm Beach, where she served as director of religious education until July.
It’s a source of pride for Devine and the organization that about 99 percent of all donated funds and material goes back into the local community. “It could be helping someone that you’re sitting next to Sunday at church. It could be helping someone that you pass on the road. You just don’t know. It’s the reason I’ve always been involved with them, and I always will, for sure,” Devine said.
The bulk of the work of the local St. Vincent de Paul district is funded by the thrift store on West Indiantown Road in Jupiter. (There are St. Vincent de Paul stores in Port St. Lucie and Hobe Sound that are separate from the Palm Beach district.) Store manager Karen Bowdre, who has worked in retail her entire life, oversees the day-to-day operation with an assistant manager and an army of 30 to 50 volunteers, the vast majority of them from nearby St. Peter, St. Patrick and St. Jude parishes. The number of volunteers varies depending on the season.
She sees shoppers walk up with just the clothes on their backs and others who drive up in the ritziest cars.
“One of the things that was in my mind when I started here as the store manager (five years ago) was that I wanted to make sure no matter who the customer was who walked into the store, I didn’t want them to feel like they were in a thrift store,” Bowdre said. “I didn’t want them to feel less than somebody else because they could not shop at a different type of store. So, that’s always been my goal, and watching the faces of the people making the purchases, it’s a good feeling.”
She has latitude to give away store items if someone is unable to pay, and she has witnessed what that relatively small amount of help can mean. Bowdre recalled an encounter with a young woman who “had just moved to Palm Beach County, and she didn’t have anything. She was kind of homeless at that point. Moving here, there and everywhere. And I gave her five outfits, saying, ‘OK, this is going to give you five outfits to start a new job.’”
The woman kept coming to the store and started buying items with money from her job. After many months, she confided to Bowdre that she had been able to save $20,000. “She said, ‘I’m putting away every penny, and this is what I’ve done, and this is what is going on in my life.’ It’s just tremendous to be able to hear that type of story of giving five outfits, how she has got a job, turned herself around, not homeless anymore, has a place to live, the whole nine yards,” Bowdre said.
Devine said, “This year, we’ve had a couple of families whose homes have burned down, specifically mobile homes. When those go, everything goes. Our thrift store manager, Karen, is fabulous, and she’s been able to put together another house full of contents for these families.”
A hotline is monitored at the Jupiter store for anyone needing assistance. Those “friends in need” (they’re purposely not called clients) can leave a message and, within 24 hours, the call will be returned by an intake person, Devine said. With information on the type of assistance needed and their zip code, the case is turned over to the local parish conference.
“The conferences then call their neighbors, the people around them who need help, and they’re able to either do a home visit, meet with them, or sometimes it’s just a phone call. It depends on what the need is,” she said. If food is required, they are told when and where to visit a local food pantry. If they can’t get there, a Vincentian will deliver.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society operates a food warehouse in Riviera Beach that distributes to 27 local food pantries, Devine said. Up to 30,000 pounds of nonperishable food comes twice a month from a Publix warehouse in Pompano Beach. The food is sorted by Vincentians and made available to nonprofits in the area.
In big and small ways, Vincentians try to make a positive difference for their neighbors. Some people on fixed incomes have to make a monthly choice of buying food or paying for electricity. “Some conferences have just adopted them, and we pay their electric bill,” Devine said.
“It’s little touches but being able to talk to someone, and sometimes you just need to talk it out. Sometimes you just need to say, ‘I’m at my wit’s end.’ Because not everybody’s in generational poverty,” she added. “Some people have just fallen ill, or they’ve lost their job, or when COVID came, the cutbacks in the service industry. No one knew that was going to happen, and we all need help sometimes.”
The thrift store has done so well, she added, that each of the 12 conferences was given $10,000 to continue serving their friends in need. It doesn’t take much to form a conference: just gather a group of people who want to help their neighbors.
“They know we’re here. They call and we answer them,” Devine said. “With some things, you can help them now, but you can’t get help again for the next six months. We don’t have those rules. We don’t want to be abused, but if we have the means and we have the funds, we’re going to help you.”
FYI
The St. Vincent de Paul store at 250 W. Indiantown Road in Jupiter is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Donations can be dropped off during those hours, either brought inside the store or left inside the white van parked outside. Store manager Karen Bowdre asks that furniture not be dropped off since space is limited in the store. Call the store at 561-401-9585 for information. For assistance, call the hotline at 561-697-9699 or the parish nearest you. To make a monetary donation, contact your parish or Kate Devine at kate@svdppalmbeach.org.
