St. Vincent de Paul group in NOTL provides emergency help to residents

Since last spring, a newly-formed group of parishioners from St. Vincent de Paul Church has been quietly working on a way to help those in need in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

They are calling it the Community Pantry, and while a food bank during winter months is part of their plans, there is so much more they are offering.

Matthew Mattingly, one of the organizers, explains the group has established a Niagara-on-the-Lake conference of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (by coincidence also the name of the church).

The society, he explains, is a worldwide Catholic lay organization founded in Paris in 1833, and is “committed to serving the needs of the poor and marginalized while addressing the root causes of poverty in our society.”

The local group of parishioners started meeting last April, says Mattingly, and as a start, last summer held a dinner at the Davy Street Hall for migrant farmworkers.

The food bank, which will open in January, is “less formal” than what is now available — there is no need to register or meet low income levels to qualify. In addition, the group will respond to requests for help with emergency needs, “such as rent, utilities, or other pressing bills.”

“We’re ready to do that,” he adds. “We have the funds. We have very generous parishioners.”

“We were trying to find out how to reach people in need," Mattingly continues. "We’ve put posters up in town and we’re doing what we can to make people aware there is another resource out there if they are in need. We don’t often think of poverty being a part of beautiful NOTL, but there are many more people than we imagine struggling to get by. Other organizations such as Newark Neighbours are doing wonderful work, and our society is not meant to replace them but to complement them by providing one more resource for those in our community trying to make ends meet.”

He says the local conference wants to be sure they are making personal contacts with those in need, and will make home visits if required to determine what the situation is and be able to respond quickly.

“Our goal is to really build personal relations with people living on the margins in our area, and to get our parish more engaged in aiding those living in poverty. We want to reach another segment of people who need help — the poor and the marginalized.”

The food bank officially opens Monday, Jan. 8 at the Davy Street parish hall, and will be open Mondays from 2 to 4 p.m. during the winter months, he says. It will be on a drop-in basis and open to anyone.

It’s important to the conference that their church plays a role in helping those who need it, Mattingly says. “They may not know who that is. We see it at church among the elderly on fixed incomes that are not keeping up. They have a lot of pride, and they’re struggling.”

The St. Vincent de Paul Society isn’t new to Niagara Region, and although the conference is new to NOTL it has already been receiving requests and helping NOTL residents through a hotline for the society in Niagara Falls,

“We are now officially a part of the hotline,” says Mattingly, “so anyone who calls 905-374-7070 will be referred to our NOTL conference. Our conference is part of the Niagara Falls Particular Council, which handles the calls to that number.”

The NOTL conference is already helping a refugee family from Afghanistan, he says. “They were one of the first to call the hotline.”

They didn’t arrive in Canada with refugee status, and have applied for it, but that takes time, Mattingly explains. “They are a good family. They had good jobs, and paid to come to Canada. Now they have to pay off that debt. The father has been working, and we’ve been helping them with rent.”

They arrived last winter and had been staying in a Niagara Falls hotel, as part of a refugee program arranged through the government, but the hotels wanted their rooms back for the tourism season, and this family ended up in NOTL, “I think because of his job,” says Mattingly, “but it’s tough living in NOTL.”

They had to leave their homeland to survive — the father's life had been threatened — and they want to contribute now they have found a safe place to settle. “They want to work and do their part. It’s impossible not to want to help them.”

“We all work together to help those in need,” he adds. But at this point in the early days of the conference, “we have no idea of what those needs are going to be.”

They ask anyone in need of emergency help in Niagara-on-the-Lake to please call 905-374-7070.