This saint stands tall among us

Our community overflows with unsung heroes.

So let’s sing for a minute here.

With Old Man Winter finally balling his fist and smacking North Idaho right in the kisser, many of us have been particularly thankful for that roof over our heads and a furnace that works. But what of those who have neither the roof nor the furnace? Nor, for that matter, much of anything else?

They’ve got St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho, and that’s a lot.

Under the outstanding leadership of Jeff Conroy, St. Vincent de Paul provides food and shelter for the homeless. More than that, they provide hope to the otherwise hopeless.

Offering an array of their own services, St. Vincent networks tirelessly with other outstanding nonprofits in our community. From veteran services to a dynamic housing program that is improving the plight of the chronically homeless, St. Vincent wraps its arms around the people who are invisible to much of society. In many cases, like its warming center, St. Vincent is simply a life saver.

While its roots are firmly embedded in Catholicism, St. Vincent de Paul staff treat believers and non-believers with equally elevated levels of compassion. For nearly seven decades the organization has been a blessing to North Idaho, anchored in these core beliefs:

We believe…

- In the dignity of the human person

- In the identification of Jesus with the poor

- In the preferential option for the poor

- That Jesus is the Evangelizer and Servant of the poor

- That growth in intimacy with Jesus is a lifelong process

- That poverty of spirit is the primary beatitude

- That our primary concern is charity and justice

- That prayer is essential: personal and communal

- In the virtue of humility: personal and corporate

- In the virtue of charity, inside and outside the Society

- In Divine Providence

- In Friendship

- In Community

- In Simplicity

And we believe North Idaho would be greatly diminished without St. Vincent de Paul.