August 12, 2011

St. Vincent de Paul Society receives grant

The National Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul awarded a grant of $1,500 on July 19 to provide bicycles for the needy in Indianapolis.

“Besides housing and jobs, many of the homeless we serve have no transportation,” said Maureen McLean, who helped write the grant application for the St. Vincent de Paul Conferences at St. Philip Neri and Holy Cross parishes, both in Indianapolis.

“A bike enables many of them to find and keep jobs as well as keep their medical appointments,” McLean said. “Those benefits, in turn, lead to more permanent housing and a healthier lifestyle.”

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Indianapolis has distributed 100 bicycles to those in need since 2008. More than 150 of their homeless clients are on a bicycle waiting list.

The disbursement to Indianapolis is part of $80,000 in Friends of the Poor grants that the St. Vincent de Paul Society will make this year throughout the United States.

(For more information on the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Indianapolis, log on to www.svdpindy.org.) †

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