Father Gregory Gay, CM, with the current Gateway Vincentian Volunteers

Superior General Visits Gateway Vincentian Volunteers

While the Congregation of the Mission’s Superior General from Rome, the Very Reverend G. Gregory Gay, CM, was visiting the Province in September, he was able to spend some time with the youth of the Gateway Vincentian Volunteers (GVV.) The mission of this program, a year-long service ministry begun in 1999 by the Midwest Province, is to provide young adults with an experience of living in community and working with the poor in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul. “It is the goal of the program that by working, praying, and living in the spirit of St. Vincent, these young adults will develop a consuming commitment to improving the lives of the poor and marginalized in our society,” shared Jim Ryan, Co-Director of the GVV program.

The Volunteers live in community with one another and with the Vincentians at the Saint-Lazare Residence in St. Louis and work in various organizations serving people living in poverty. At the close of this session in June 2006, thirty-four young adults will have completed the program. Former volunteers have stayed connected to one another and to the program through the Gateway Vincentian Volunteers Associates.

Volunteers this year are Briana Colton, from Minnesota, serving at St. Vincent de Paul Parish and at St. Francis Cabrini Academy; Clare Lassiter, from Virginia, working at Places for People; Annie McCance, from Illinois, working for the Franciscan Connection’s Stone-by-Stone Project; Suzette Smith, from Texas, working both at the Family Center in East St. Louis and at Marian Middle School; Nelson Perez, from Florida, serving Guardian Angel Settlement Association; and Erica Stacy, from Rhode Island, now working at Community Alternatives.

One current volunteer, Suzette Smith, and three former GVVs (Toshio Sato, Jeremy Dixon, and Amy Arendt) attended World Youth Day in August.

Similar to the GVV program is the Colorado Vincentian Volunteers (CVV) program whose mission is to invite young adults into a process of companionship with the poor in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul. Located in Denver, Colorado, they also seek to fulfill this mission through a year-long program of direct service and advocacy with those who are poor and share community living supported by prayer, reflection and discussion on the Gospel.