DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF)- The Society of St. Vincent de Paul North Texas has announced the grand reopening of the St. Vincent Center in Lancaster, following extensive renovations in the wake of the historic Winter Storm in Feb. 2021. The Center serves thousands of members of the Southern Dallas community annually.
Significant water damage due to the storm resulted in substantial renovations, coupled with added investments by the Society to upgrade the Center. The St. Vincent Center received new flooring, fresh paint, refreshed lighting and doors, as well as extensive structural upgrades such as a new kitchen, office space and storage area. The Center remained open throughout the year while undergoing renovations, but is now primed to be fully functional. The Society will celebrate the Grand Reopening on Tues., Mar. 8 from 8-10 a.m., with tours of the newly renovated building following the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“The Society of St. Vincent de Paul North Texas considers it the highest privilege to be able to serve our Southern Dallas neighbors,” said Luis Gonzalez, Society of St. Vincent de Paul North Texas CEO. “We envision the St. Vincent Center to be a hub of collaboration and services for the area, uniting civic and corporate partners in providing creative solutions and assistance to the community.”
The St. Vincent Center provides a diverse set of services and resources to the Lancaster and surrounding Southern Dallas community, including: goods, utility bill assistance, food assistance, hygiene items, holiday gifts and items for the homeless.
In partnership with Walmart, Amazon and other organizations of all sizes, the Center distributes a wide variety of goods to community members. In December 2021, the center received nearly 8K donated items for distribution around the holidays. During the Christmas holiday, the organization distributed toys, winter coats, shoes and more to over 600 children under the age of 13. For its Fiscal Year-to-Date, it has donated more than $30K in total goods.
Another key element of the Center’s services is providing utility bill assistance, in partnership with companies including Oncor and Reliant. In January 2021, the Center assisted nearly 20 local families with more than $4K in aid. The total aid provided by the St. Vincent Center for its Fiscal Year-to-Date is more than $12K.
Through the Center’s collaboration with the organization People and Nutrition (PAN) – a monthly USDA supplemental food assistance program for income-eligible seniors – the nonprofit has provided food-center aid to more than 100 seniors each of the last two months. It has helped nearly 1K seniors in its Fiscal Year-to-Date. Additionally in regards to nutrition, the Center has a thriving joint partnership named The Jan Pruitt Community Pantry, uniting with the North Texas Food Bank and Catholic Charities of Dallas (CCD) to distribute more than 780K items to local families in 2021, totalling more than 1M pounds of food.
The St. Vincent Center’s Hygiene Closet provided goods to nearly 500 people in December 2021 and nearly 200 people in January 2022. It has helped more than 1,400 neighbors this Fiscal Year-to-Date.
Lastly, the St. Vincent Center has partnered with the Ministerial Alliance group in Lancaster to support a homeless outreach program, which services nearly 80 neighbors with masks, clothing, food, blankets, water and hygiene products.
In addition to the services provided at the St. Vincent Center, the Society hosts a variety of other programs to address the root causes of poverty and homelessness facing so many North Texans, including the St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy, StudyTime and the Mini Loan Program. These systemic change programs help local families improve their long-term standing and prevent future crises.
The St. Vincent Center is located at 1120 Randlett St., Lancaster, TX 75146. To learn more about all of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s services, please visit www.svdpdallas.org.
