The year 1925 was the time of the song “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby,” Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, and President Calvin Coolidge.
It was also the year that the needs of neighbors struggling to make ends meet galvanized a small group of Catholic parishioners in the Madison area.
Those efforts started the Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Madison, celebrating its centennial this year.
During its first century, the Society in Madison remained steadfast in its mission, with volunteers, supporters, and employees continuing to provide help and hope to neighbors in need.
‘A heartfelt kind of thing’
Mary Severson, a parishioner at St. Ann Church in Stoughton — now part of St. Cletus Pastorate — and a Vincentian of 20 years, is finishing her second term as president of the St. Ann Conference.
Severson said that her first introduction to the Society was “when I was a youngster”.
“My grandma had a St. Vincent de Paul store where she lived, and so I knew about stores and that they helped poor people and that kind of thing,” she explained.
Severson learned more about the Society as time went on, so that when she was recruited by Vincentians during a ministries fair at church, “I had been told enough to know that it wasn’t all about food pantries,” she said.
Now, as a Vincentian of two decades, Severson knows that there are many ways to be involved, saying, “If you’re the active person that wants to get out and do things, there’s the food pantry, Vinnie’s lockers, the gardens — there’s lots of things you can go and do if you want to.”
But closest to Severson’s heart are home visits, which she learned about soon after joining the Society.
“Home visits, where we visit the poor and help them, are truly what we’re about,” Severson said.
“When you go and you help somebody, it feels really good that you’re able to help them, and even if you can’t help them, sometimes you give them that hope that somebody cares,” she said.
“It’s a heartfelt kind of thing that we do, that you’re physically connecting with these people, one-on-one, learning their story, and sometimes able to watch them grow and get back on their feet,” Severson continued.
For Severson, the other “big part of conference life, besides prayer and service, is friendship.” She continued, saying, “The friendships you develop are very special”.
Another Vincentian of two decades, Janet Tuccinardi is a member of the St. Maria Goretti Conference and is a parishioner of St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison, part of Divine Mercy Pastorate.
Tuccinardi shared that after reverting to Catholicism, she searched for groups where she could “walk the talk”.
“Putting my faith into action, I think that’s really important,” she said.
Now an established Vincentian, Tuccinardi says that the Society “is a beautiful way to play out Jesus’s Beatitudes”.
Because of the Beatitudes, there’s a special connection between the Faith, the Society, and good works, Tuccinardi believes, saying that the Society is “more than just the government, or anybody, giving somebody something at a charity” because it’s “what we’re asked to do by Jesus”.
Alongside the Society’s good works and friendships, Tuccinardi also holds Vincentian spirituality in high esteem.
Because conferences incorporate spiritual reflection into meetings, the Society helps “members grow spiritually in what they’re doing,” Tuccinardi said.
“St. Vinny’s is a wonderful vehicle to help you live out your virtues,” she said.
‘Not an ordinary service club’
Ana Martinez is a college-age Vincentian who is also involved with Saint Paul’s Catholic University Center on the UW-Madison campus.
Martinez remembered that she had heard about the university conference when she arrived on campus, and after seeing her mother’s witness, Martinez decided to become a Vincentian, too.
The Society “is not an ordinary service club because it integrates our Catholic Faith and Catholic Social Teaching,” Martinez said.
The Society does “actionable things to help our local communities; it’s not like any other service club on campus,” she continued. “That’s why I kept going with it, and I eventually wanted to seek more leadership and a bigger way to get involved.”
Martinez’s favorite activities are “where I get to meet people face to face,” she said and mentioned the Society’s Little Drummer program as one example.
The Little Drummer program “is run during Christmas and it provides toys to people who the St. Vincent de Paul conferences have assisted with home visits in the past year,” she explained.
“Parents are able to come in and pick out gifts for their children,” Martinez continued, and said the Little Drummer program is particularly impactful for her because “it’s a very visible way of seeing how appreciative these individuals are”.
Clara Weiss is part of the Society’s Youth Service Council, a diocesan-wide conference specifically for high school students.
Weiss explained that she joined the youth council after hearing her friends’ experiences and after obtaining a driver’s license, so that she could drive herself to meetings.
Now, she’s been with the council for two years and said that it’s “shaped me into the person I am today, adding that she “can’t wait to go further with St. Vincent de Paul” after high school.
With the Society, Weiss shared that she’s felt a “great sense of joy, that I get to make someone else’s day that much brighter”.
The post-secondary education scholarship is “one of my favorite parts of what we do,” Weiss said, adding that fundraising for the scholarship and helping choose recipients is how she enjoys serving “my peers in a way that is very near and dear to my heart”.
Celebrating service
On Wednesday, April 23, St. Vincent de Paul-Madison will officially celebrate its first century of service, kicking off a year-long tribute to the compassionate people who have shaped its legacy. From dedicated Vincentian members and volunteers to generous donors and hardworking employees, countless individuals have played a role in lifting up vulnerable families and strengthening Dane County.
You can join in celebrating this milestone and shaping the future together.
There will be a centennial Mass and luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Alliant Energy Center, 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, Madison.
Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison will celebrate the Mass with music by the Madison Diocesan Choir and Schola.
For more information or to register, go to svdpmadison.org/centennial.
Through faith, commitment, and innovation, St. Vincent de Paul-Madison has spent the last 100 years restoring dignity, preventing homelessness, and ensuring neighbors have access to essentials like food, clothing, and medicine.
As the organization looks to the future, it remains committed to adapting to new challenges and expanding its impact, ensuring that the next century of service is just as transformative.