St. Vincent de Paul of Des Moines Society

About Us

Since being established in Des Moines in 1924, the main focus of St. Vincent de Paul's (SVdP) work is to assist those living in poverty in becoming self-sufficient by helping to remove roadblocks as we walk with them on their journey out of poverty. SVdP of Des Moines operates four thrift stores, a workforce training and preparedness program, a reentry center for formerly incarcerated individuals, a 24 hour sobering facility for individuals struggling with alcohol use, two social service departments, and an adult education center. SVdP employs around 80 paid staff and over 1,000 volunteers.

The approach of St. Vincent de Paul is multifaceted, and intentionally diversified. Our goal is to address the symptoms that have caused our participants and guests to experience poverty, rather than just patch the issue. As such, our programs are interconnected to provide access to resources for those in need.