As Catholics and members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, we see the face of Jesus in who we visit. We have a responsibility to be the voice of the poor and to speak out for the poor who have no voice.

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
I was a stranger and you invited me in.
(Matthew 25:35)

We are called to move from being affected by what we see during our homevisits and special works activities to being effective in our serving the poor. 

As the Voice of the Poor we want to inform our elected representatives and our community how decisions affect the people we care for, our friends the poor.  We want to hold our elected representatives accountable for the decisions they make, which affect the poor.

We seek to speak especially for those who have no voice.  It is up to the members of the Society to bring the stories we know of the poor to life.  We need to focus on the issues agreed upon by Conferences and based on Catholic social teaching, and we need to be informed.  We need to research issues so we can speak knowledgeably.  It is important for us to build relationships with the Church leadership and the political leadership of the country, so we can bring both together for the good of the Society and our friends the poor.

Conferences need to create awareness and interest amongst Vincentians and encourage fellow parishioners to speak in one unified voice as an extension of our serving the individuals and families the Society has served, serves, and will serve in the future. We have stories to tell, statistics to support our stories, and service we can measure and describe to key decision makers.

We need to build grassroots support. This is necessary on the Conference level, if we are to be effective. As we hear stories on the local level and learn of similar needs, then we have tangible evidence of what we need to focus our efforts on.