Does the St Vincent De Paul help people like us?

Looking for advice on contacting St Vincent De Paul with regard to seeking help.

I am on OAP of €230 pw, my wife receives €196 illness benefit, but after paying our mortgage & bills, at the end of the week there is €23 euro left - so nothing left for food.

I have never had to ask for charity & a bit nervous about doing this, but really dont know where to turn now. Ive contacted my creditors who have all reduced our outgoings, so I cant pull extra money from anywhere. As Ive stated the bills are paid, but fridge & cuboards are empty.

My questions are:

1 Do SVDP help people like us?
2 How do you go about contacting them?
3 Would it be someone local calling to the house?
4 If it is someone local, is it confidential?

Any help & advice is much appreciated thank you..

I would suggest that you access the website www.svp.ie , on the site you will see " need help " section which will give you details of the nearest SVP centre to you with contact numbers etc.

I'm sure that they will then answer your queries.

Sorry to hear about your situation Meltdown. You don't have any money for food so you really need to get your creditors payments down even further. MABS can help you with this if you contact them to make an appointment. You are trying to repay your debts which is great but you also need to eat and so those repayments need to be renegotiated with MABS help to allow you and your wife to put food on the table. Good luck.

Meltdown

Thanks for the input...Creditors are at the bottom line..Im just at the end of my rope now..Fed up of thinking there is light at the end of the tunnel but in my case someone switched off the bloody bulb..I used to hate Friday as it is the day the bills get paid now I hate everyday,There must be more to life than this,& if this is all there is whats the bloody point..sorry for sounding off but just feel so low

Sorry to hear you're under such pressure Meltdown.

To answer your questions, yes, SVP do help people like you. They help anyone who is in financial trouble, not just the 'typical' people such as lone parents. You need to go to their website to find out where your local office is or call them at 01 838 6990 to find out.

It wouldn't necessarily be someone local calling to your house. In many instances the volunteers don't help at the nearest office to them as they don't want to be calling to people they know and putting them in an embarassing situation. If you live in an urban area you're less likely to know the volunteers. And yes, if it is someone local, they must keep any info confidential.

I hope this helps and good luck with your situation.

Thanks aaa1...
Keep picking up the phone to call them & dropping it again...Tortured!

You might qualify for help with your mortgage from the Community Welfare Officer based at your local health centre.

Meltdown,

could I also suggest you go in and see someone in your local Citizen's Information Centre who will be able to advise you on any other benefits/assistance you are entitled to.

You can find contact details, opening hours on http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories
as well as a lot of information on benefits.

Best of luck.

Thanks Gipimann..been to see the welfare officer...no joy with him & to be fair I think it was a clash of personalities..but Id prefer to starve than go back to him...
JPI234 it was the CAB who sugested I contact SVDP....As I said all the bills are paid its just the food issue...looks like I'll have to get a Balaclava & hit Lidi..how much jail time would I get for a pound of sausages & a loaf of bread...hung for a sheep as a lamb Might throw in a few steaks! Thanks everyone,weird but I dont feel so alone now.

Meltdown said:

Thanks aaa1...
Keep picking up the phone to call them & dropping it again...Tortured!

Click to expand...

Definitely phone them. Theyre really nice, totally non judgemental and they deal with similar and much worse cases ALL the time so no one will bat an eyelid, just practical help.

Meltdown said:

JPI234 it was the CAB who sugested I contact SVDP.....

Click to expand...

Did they go through everything with you such as the Household Benefits package, whether you might be entitled to carer's allowance, Mortgage Interest Supplement and so on? ( disclaimer: I work in a CIC as an admin/receptionist so am not in a position to advise but I see people in everyday in very bad circumstances and it's unusual to hear of people being directed to SVP without all other avenues being looked at)

Hi Meltdown

I have done work for the VdeP for the last 20 years. They are very helpful and not at all judgemental. They will certainly help you in your predicament.

Just call up the head office and more than likely they will send someone from the local conference out to see you (you are very unlikely to know this person as I know from experience that most people prefer to work outside their own area for this very reason - to save embarrassment on both sides). They will go through your weekly / monthly outgoings with you and may end up giving you vouchers for your local store i.e. Dunnes / Tesco etc. Another way they have of helping people is to help them with their bills i.e. maybe pay their gas or electicity for them for a few months to give them some leaway so that they can catch their breath as such.

Another thing that we do is help people get a break - get away for a few days because if you are going through this type of crisis you do need a break of some type.

Each conference would have their own policy and way of dealing with cases and every case is individual and definitely confidential.

Hope this helps and gives you the confidence to ring them up.

Staff

Hello To Everyone that replied my post yesterday.

I confess I was suicidal & felt totally backed into a corner. After reading 'Staff''s reply I plucked up the courage to Ring SVDP & it was the most difficult call I have ever had to make & I think the lovely lady on the other end of the line knew this.

I was treated with the upmost courtsy when I explained the predicament I was in.

After taking all the details from me I got a call a few hours later from two gents who said they would call to the house (this being a weekend night). They listened with smypathy & made things very easy for me, & very kindly gave me food vouchers it was'nt a fortune but I felt like a millionaire knowing that at least we would have food in the cuboard over the weekend. When they left with smiles & handshakes, Im not ashamed to say we sat & cried we were so grateful for their help & understanding & things didnt look so bleak anymore.

I am overwhelmed by the generocity of the people here that privately PM me offering me money for food. I didnt accept it but thank you all for your kindness to m e. I am 71 yrs old & very proud & have never had to accept charity before so it was very difficult. To the St VDP I thank you most sincerely for helping us,to the people on here that took the time to reply & to thoes that privately PM me I thank you from the bottom of my heart. A specail word of thanks to Paddy you have a good heart lad!

I still have no money but I believe in ''Paying Forward'' & though it wont be in a monetary way I will pay it forward to someone somehow....wishing you all a safe & joyous weekend.

Thanks!

Staff, I'm in Cork. After reading this post I'd like to offer to volunteer with SVP in any way I can. Can you PM me some details of who to contact?

Meltdown, my heart really goes out to you and your wife. You have highlighted to me that good people still exist in a recession - SVP are clearly doing amazing things. Push that pride aside, we all need a little help sometimes. I truly wish you and your wife the very best x

phone numbers rather than web addresses

Could I suggest that phone numbers be included in replies to posts such as this as not everybody is familiar with, or has access to the web? Glad the replies were so helpful.

Meltdown I was thinking of you over the weekend and I lit a candle for you. I really hope things improve for you and your wife. Best of luck and it's great to see SVP doing such fantastic work in local communities.

Meltdown, I am so glad to hear you rang SVP and had such a positive experience with them. I was thinking about you over the weekend also and its good to know that you have a way forward and feel better about things.

Take care of yourself, you were so right to post here and get some assistance, and I hope all goes well for you going forward.

Im heartened in one sense and angered in another.

Heartened by the decent folk on here who offered advice and especially the ones who pm'd offering assistance. Well done folks, you make me proud to be Irish.

Angered at our system for allowing people get into situations like this and having them feel helpless in a way.

Hi there, quick question for the OP. How come you are still paying a mortgage? I didn't think banks would allow a mortgage if you are retired. I didn't think Irish banks gave morgages to over 65's. I know this because my mum looked into it.

There is another thing you can do, presumably you do not have long left on your mortgage I know tehre are banks that have products out there - the one I am thinking of is BOI and SHIP. Where by the owner can get money from the house and then the bank take a share in the property. Would you think of doing something like this when you own the property?
P..

SHIP have temporarily ceased trading but Seniors Money do the same type of product. You can clear your mortgage out of the proceeds of the loan.