1. The Clinic that Volunteers Build
2. Father’s Joe’s Villages® at a Glance
3. St. Vincent de Paul Village Thrift Store/Warehouse
4. St. Vincent’s Opens Newest Affordable H ousing Complex
5. San Diegans Receiving Benefits Through St. Vincent de Paul Village Faith-Based Initiative Grant

San Diegans Receiving Benefits Through St. Vincent de Paul Village Faith-Based Initiative Grant

VTI Director Mary Long joins two participants of a workshop on collaborative partnerships: (from left) Long, Bishop Roy Dixon and Pastor Ulysses Pillar.

Senior citizens and medically uninsured individuals in San Diego are among the first beneficiaries of the U.S. Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Grant to St. Vincent de Paul Village. St. Vincent’s was one of 21 organizations in the nation chosen in October 2002 to instruct smaller organizations and groups on how to provide services most effectively to the homeless and needy.

" St. Vincent set up the Village Training Institute (VTI) to administer the channeling of funds to churches and other small outreach groups," says Mary Long, VTI director. "Among the first sub-awards we made were to Point Loma Nazarene University and All Congregations Together (ACT) in June. Located in San Diego, they had utilized our workshops and applied for funding for their respective programs to help needy senior citizens and the uninsured."

VTI offers a program of free workshops, mentoring and sub-awards, averaging $30,000, to build and expand an organization’s capacity. "We’ve conducted workshops since April and have had over 150 participants, who’ve taken away something they didn’t know before," notes Long. A typical workshop lasts eight hours and includes lunch and a guided tour of St. Vincent de Paul Village.

" The best part is that everyone who attends a workshop receives an application to apply for a sub-award," Long says.

Monies for the sub-awards come to VTI through a $673,000 award from the Compassion Capital Fund of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. To learn more about VTI, go to: www.villagetraininginstitutue.org web site, or call 619.446.2135.