Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church

Aurora, IL

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international, nonprofit, Catholic lay organization that provides assistance for those in need and living in poverty.

One of the oldest charitable organizations in the world, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) is a Catholic lay organization of 800,000 men and women throughout the world who voluntarily join together to grow spiritually and offer person-to-person service to the needy and suffering in 140 countries on five continents. With the U.S. headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., membership in the United States totals more than 150,000 members in 4,300 communities. Programs include home visits, housing assistance, disaster relief, job training and placement, food pantries, clothing, transportation and utility costs, care for the elderly and medicine. Last year, SVdP volunteers and staff performed approximately 11 million service hours, provided approximately $794 million in tangible and in-kind services, made more than 1.7 million person-to-person visits (homes, hospitals and prisons), and helped almost 15 million people regardless of race, religion or national origin.

Members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (or “Vincentians”) are men and women who strive to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to individuals in need. We are young and old. Our members come in every shade of skin color. Some of us are wealthy, some are financially poor, but all of us are blessed with an awareness that our blessings (time, talent or treasure) are to be shared with our brothers and sisters in need.

Like that of its founder, Frédéric Ozanam, the vision of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul “is to embrace the world in a network of charity.” Our motto is “No work of charity is foreign to the Society.”

Who We Serve:

We serve all of our registered parish members and those living within our parish boundaries.

Assistance/Services:

We are committed to providing social services, resources and financial assistance to the poor and needy. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a non-profit that offers a unique style of personal assistance with food, clothing, gasoline, medicine, rent, utilities, and transportation to people facing economic or emotional crises. People of all backgrounds and religion can get assistance.

The exact number and types of assistance vary. However after contacting us, and being found qualified for receiving assistance, people usually benefit from one or more of the following.

  • Transportation assistance, including gasoline vouchers and bus passes.
  • Housing assistance, which can include rent assistance and foreclosure prevention services or referrals.
  • Utility bill assistance. Funds can pay electric, gas, water bills.
  • Clothing, household goods, appliances, beds and furniture.
  • Food boxes and groceries. Holiday assistance is also offered, including Christmas and Thanksgiving meals.
  • Emergency prescription medications.
  • Other types of basic necessities.

How to Reach Us:

Please call 630.236.1285.  You will leave a message.  Please spell your first and last name and address.  Someone will call you as soon as possible.  Speak clearly and slowly.

Not In Our Area?

Please contact the parish nearest you.  Here are some of the parishes in our area.  If you are not sure, please call us and leave your address and we will call you back with the parish that serves your area.

  • Holy Angels, 180 Russell Road, Aurora, IL 60506, 630-897-8068
  • St. Joseph, 722 High Street, Aurora, IL  60505, 630 844-3780, ext. 500
  • St. Rita of Cascia, 750 W. Old Indian Trail, Aurora, IL  60506, 630-892-6186
  • St. Therese of Jesus Church, 271 N. Farnsworth Avenue, Aurora, IL 60505, 630-851-2913

DejaVu Thrift Shop & Sullivan Furniture Warehouse

The St. Vincent de Paul Deja Vu Thrift Shop & Sullivan Furniture Warehouse are unique thrift stores with matching unique furniture, clothing, and other oddities. We keep our prices fair and all proceeds benefit those in need in our local communities.  Visit http://dejavuthrift.org/ for more information.

DejaVu Thrift Shop
427 S 4th St
Geneva, Illinois 60134
(630) 232-6621

DejaVu Furniture Showroom & Bargain Basement
911 Sullivan Road
Aurora, IL 60506
630-397-8555

Our Aurora location is on the corner of Sullivan Road and Eastwood Drive while our Geneva location is on the corner of 4th and South Streets.

Want to Help?

We are always looking for volunteers of time, talent and treasure to help us.  We are always accepting donations aside from the generous parish tithe we receive.  Checks can be made to St. Vincent de Paul – OLGC and dropped in the collection basket or at the parish center.

If you would like to join, we meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month in the St. Francis Center at 7 PM.  Please join us if you would like to see what it is all about.

We are in great need of bilingual (Spanish) home visitors to help clients in our community.  We always welcome prayers for our clients as well as paper good products to distribute at home visits.  Both of our stores can also use donations of furniture and household goods that our clients may need.  Our stores are also in need of volunteers.  Volunteer opportunities include greeters, packers [helping cashiers wrap and bag], help with cleanup [e.g. rehanging clothes], be around to generally assist, and hopefully start to learn the register to be able to ring sales in a pinch.  You will be working with a fun group of volunteers!

We hold two fundraisers each year.  Our Pizza and Pasta Night at Luigi’s is usually held in the spring.  Families can enjoy a meal while assisting the poor.  The last Saturday in September we also join with the other St. Vincent de Paul conferences in our district in the Friends of the Poor walk.  To learn more about the walk or donate, please go to www.fopwalk.org