Meet one of the world's most charitable families. In two years, the Vincentian Family has provided homes to more than 7,000 homeless people all over the world.
The original goal of the Famvin Homeless Alliance's “13 Houses” campaign, launched in 2018, was to get 10,000 homeless people off the streets in five years. But things haven't gone quite according to plan... fortunately.
MARK MCGREEVY
Project Coordinator, Famvin Homeless Alliance
“We think we'll make our 10,000 people housed target at the end of 2021, and then we'll run for another two years and see what good things we can achieve from there. FLASH What it's taught us I think is how powerful the Church can be in delivering these projects if you bring the right people together in the right room and create that sense of movement. Then this wonderful thing. This Church of ours can do great things.”
The initiative is inspired by the Vincentians' founder, St. Vincent de Paul, who spearheaded a similar project to help homeless children in Paris in 1643.
MARK MCGREEVY
Project Coordinator, Famvin Homeless Alliance
“And in this year, Louis XIII of France died and left to Vincent in his will the sum equivalent of one million USD in today's funding. And he used that to purchase 13 houses, which became the first systemic approach to looking at how you could actually house these children and reintegrate them back into society.”
The campaign is what Mark calls “a truly global effort from a truly global Church.” These people in Mexico who lost everything during an earthquake can certainly testify to that. Thanks to 13 Houses, their homes and church were rebuilt.
The Vincentian spirit of solidarity can be felt also in Nigeria..., Madagascar..., Peru... among many others.
MARK MCGREEVY
Project Coordinator, Famvin Homeless Alliance
“Whether it's a family in the Philippines that suffered from a typhoon; whether it's been another natural disaster in another part of the world; floods in Latin America... In all those cases, we've been able to intervene and help individual families to get on their feet again and have a place to call home.”
But the Vincentians don't stop at the basics. A central part of their mission is to address the root causes of homelessness and to change the narrative on how we see homelessness globally.
So what began as a local initiative with 13 houses back in 1643, in 2021 is a full-fledged home-building effort spanning 41 countries and counting on the more than two million members of this extended, charitable Vincentian Family.
CT
Famvin Homeless Alliance
