Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a question that you don’t see here, please get in touch with us.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a Catholic lay organization dedicated to assisting those in need with various forms of financial and material help.
Members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (or “Vincentians” ) are men and women who strive to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to individuals in need. When groups of Vincentians come together at a Catholic parish, such as Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, they make up a Conference.
No. The services of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Our Lady of Guadalupe Helotes Conference, are open to all people in need, regardless of their income, religious beliefs, or race.
Vincentians provide food assistance to anyone in need. We also offer emergency utility assistance to people within our service area or who belong to one of the churches within our Alliance of Community Churches.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Helotes provides food to anyone in need. People who need help with utilities must live within our service area to receive assistance. To find out if you live within our service area, contact us at [email protected] or 210-695-5683.
We can direct you to an organization that provides utility assistance in your area based on your address. You can also work directly with CPS Energy and SAWS to set up payment plans.
Our aid is focused on providing emergency assistance with electric, water, and gas utilities.
First, call us at 210-695-5683 so we can look up your address to see if you live within our service area. Next, we’ll need to meet with you – make sure you bring a copy of your bill or service disconnection notice and ID. Once you sign the CPS Authorization form, we can contact CPS Energy on your behalf. We may be able to pledge an amount toward your bill to temporarily prevent your service from being disconnected or to turn it back on. You will need to contact CPS Energy to set up a payment plan to help you catch up on missed payments to avoid another service disruption.
We collect household member information for three main reasons: (a) to get a fuller picture of your household’s collective circumstances and (b) to satisfy donors who require aggregated demographic information about the clients they provide financial donations for. However, we will never ask for financial information like bank account numbers, passwords, or PINs.
We accept financial donations and donations of perishable and non-perishable food. You can check this page for a list of our most needed items to drop off during our hours of operation. Our food pantry is located at 14690 Bandera Road in Helotes, next to the Helotes Lions Club.
Yes! When food is donated at our food pantry, one of our volunteers will weigh the donation and give you an in-kind donation receipt. When you make a financial donation to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, you will receive a letter from us that will serve as your tax-deduction receipt. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are deductible to the extent allowed under the Internal Revenue Service rules.