Mission Statement

Responding to the call of the Gospel, in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul, lay men and women of the Vincentian Service Corps serve those who are poor, while growing in prayer and living simply in community.

In 1983 the Vincentian Service Corps was founded by the Vincentian priests to further the work of St. Vincent de Paul. Three volunteers formed the first VSC East community. They worked in the social ministries of Philadelphia’s Immaculate Conception Parish and lived simply in a small apartment across from the parish rectory. VSC East continued to have volunteers serving faithfully until its closing in July 2004.

At about the same time (1983), another group of the Vincentian family, the Daughters of Charity, were establishing a similar program out of St. Louis, Missouri. Two years later, they joined with the Daughters in Evansville, Indiana, to form what is now VSC Central. Today they continue to place volunteers in service in the Midwest.

The VSC West was formed in 1991 to serve northern and southern California. It began with seven volunteers who served in various agencies in and around Los Angeles. Today it is sponsored by the Daughters of Charity, Province of the West, and continues to grow along the western coastline.

The VSC programs work independently, but cooperatively, recruiting and placing volunteers in their own geographic areas.