St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin County
Together we are ending hunger, poverty, and homelessness in Marin.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Approximately 261,000 people live in Marin County, California. There are approximately 23,000 (9%) individuals living below the federal poverty level, or 57,000 (22%) people living below the economic “self-sufficiency” standard, which factors in the high cost of living in Marin. Currently, the County reports over 1,000 people are homeless and more than 4,000 are precariously housed.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Free Dining Room, Gateway to Services
Each year St. Vincent de Paul Society's Free Dining Room serves approximately 200,000 meals to hungry residents, including working adults, veterans, seniors, families, and those experiencing unemployment or homelessness. The Free Dining Room is open 365 days a year offering breakfast, a hot midday meal, and "to go" boxes for those who need an evening meal. The Dining Room operates without barriers or qualifications (other than appropriate behavior), welcoming anyone who is hungry to enjoy a hot, nutritious meal. Aware that many suffering from hunger and food insecurity may benefit from further assistance, the Dining Room serves as an essential outreach center, connecting diners with other services including crisis intervention, homelessness prevention, and housing services.
Homeless Prevention Home Visits, COVID-19 Relief
Many people find themselves facing a housing crisis when financial difficulties make it impossible to meet essential needs like rent, utilities, and food. Our primary goal is to keep people from losing their housing during a crisis, while assisting them with planning to prevent future problems. Experienced, trained volunteer counselors meet with people in their own homes, at their convenience, to remove barriers like lack of transportation, child care, or the inability to take time off from work to seek help. SVDP volunteers listen and assess the situation, identifying the best intervention to stop the crisis and stabilize the household. Immediate aid is often given during the visit, such as groceries; temporary rent help, assistance with utility or other bills; plus information about other resources.
Our volunteers also meet with clients over time to help them create a plan to make sure they can get back on track to maintain their housing. We can help individuals and families develop a network of support so they can enjoy greater stability into the future.
HOT Team, Homeless Outreach
HOT ends chronic homelessness one person at a time. An innovative and collaborative program working to end chronic homelessness in Marin, HOT brings together leadership from community partners to find housing solutions for the most vulnerable homeless people in our community. HOT case managers on the street connect with chronically homeless individuals often suffering from multiple disabilities, medical conditions, addiction and mental health problems. The HOT Team works with people wherever they find them, developing trust, gathering necessary documents, and securing interim housing. Once stabilized, each client is connected with compassionate care and moved toward permanent, supportive housing. From 2017 to 2019, our HOT collaborative reduced chronic homelessness in Marin by 28%
Housing Help Desk, COVID-19 Relief
SVDP's Housing Help Desk provides counseling and emergency needs to individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Basic items like blankets, clean socks, and toiletries are readily available. The Help Desk also provides limited financial aid for critical needs. Under professional case management supervision, SVDP leverages trained, experienced volunteers to help with critical needs and get back into housing as quickly as possible. Counselors assess barriers to housing and create a personal housing plan, identify program eligibility, look for and locate housing options. Once housing is secured, SVDP may provide move-in expenses and a rental deposit. The Housing Help Desk ends homelessness every year for approximately 56 families and 115 individuals, many of whom are elderly, disabled, or veterans.
Community Court
In partnership with Marin Superior Court and Legal Aid of Marin, SVDP hosts a monthly Community Court in the Free Dining Room facility after hours. Community Court makes court proceedings accessible to homeless, marginalized people in a familiar atmosphere in an effort to increase participation and reduce penalties for minor offenses. Seeking to reduce the criminalization of homelessness, the court recognized that all too often these are "lifestyle" violations directly related to a lack of housing. Community Court provides relief to an overcrowded court calendar while eliminating warrants and outstanding fines that may be damaging a person's credit, impacting their driver’s license or otherwise making it harder for them to get back on their feet. Community Court aims to convert fines to community service hours, connect participants with social services, medical treatment, rehabilitation programs and job seeking assistance. Reservations are required for participation.
Where we work
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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reports# Crisis assistance prevented homelessness
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people, Children and youth, Seniors
Related Program
Homeless Prevention Home Visits, COVID-19 Relief
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Crisis assistance provided families with assistance to stay in housing in our Home Visits/Homelessness Prevention program, serving more than 2,600 Marin residents, one third of them children.
Number of emergency meals provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people, Homeless people, Seniors
Related Program
Free Dining Room, Gateway to Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Annually, the Free Dining Room serves approximately 200,000 hot, nutritious meals to children, adults, seniors, and veterans while offering them links to other essential services.
Number of homeless participants engaged in housing services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Homeless people, Adults, People with disabilities
Related Program
HOT Team, Homeless Outreach
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
SVDP's Homeless Outreach (HOT) Team changed everything by inviting community partners into a collaborative solutions-oriented model for housing, together reduced Marin's chronic homelessness by 28%
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Based on our core belief in the dignity of all people, St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin provides compassionate, individualized assistance to help our most vulnerable neighbors obtain nutritious food, affordable housing, meaningful employment and a voice in our community.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our program strategies include:
Homeless Prevention through trained volunteer home visits;
Housing Help Desk provides direct client aide for homeless people;
Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) collaborative program to help chronically homeless individuals with multiple health problems;
Free Dining Room serving nearly 200,000 meals, open every day;
Jobs Stipend and Employment Training Program for homeless people;
Community Court in partnership with Marin Superior Court and Legal Aid of Marin.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
3,000 generous donors; 2,800 dedicated volunteers; 19 staff members
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Achievements include:
SVDP successfully led a complex systems change from multiple service agencies operating in silos. multi-mission, "first come, first served" haphazard service system to a coordinated, collaborative approach built on Housing First principles and prioritizing the most vulnerable people for personalized housing plans.
Achieved 28% reduction in chronically homeless individuals reported in the 2019 Point in Time Count for the county since the 2016 launch of our Homeless Outreach (HOT) Team.
People housed through HOT Collaborative had a 90% success rate for housing, compared with 85% for Housing First nationwide.
Crisis assistance prevented 1,600 families from losing their housing
Permanent housing secured for 117 people living on the streets
Free Dining Room upgraded to heart-healthy, vegan salad bar and served 200,000 hot meals to children, adults, seniors, and veterans
Jobs Stipend and Training provided for 25 people
Community Court secured justice for 350 people living in poverty
Bridge to Housing provided interim housing for 21 of the hardest-to-serve people to stabilize and get ready for permanent housing.
Permanent Supportive Housing for 32 formerly chronically homeless individuals with co-occurring disabilities
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin County
Board of directorsas of 01/20/2023
Herb Foedisch
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin
Suzanne Swift
(Vice President) Retired President & Owner, Buffet Concepts
Mike Pautler
(Treasurer) Retired Financial Executive
Mike Bromham
(Secretary) Retired Business Executive
Roger Cassidy
Retired Health Insurance Executive
Randy Chapman
President of Meridian Management Group
Miriam Connaughton
Connaughton Consulting LLC
Rich Gallagher
Retired Founder of Marin Skin Diving
Duane Geck
Attorney, Severson & Werson
Willy Kukach
Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data