‘Yours must be the work of love, of kindness; you must give your time, your talents, yourselves. The poor person is a unique person of God’s fashioning with an inalienable right to respect.’ Blessed Frédéric Ozanam founded the St Vincent de Paul Society
A staggering 1,600 people are being forced into homelessness every single month in Australia. [i] The most vulnerable people in our communities have been affected by the spiralling cost of living in the last few years. The lack of affordable housing and increased demand for rental properties are forcing more people into homelessness. Meeting basic needs such as food, water and a place to sleep can be the most important daily priority for people experiencing homelessness. It is your compassion and support that makes the work of St Vincent de Paul possible. Financial donations play a critical role in sustaining the Society. Donations to the Winter Appeal may be made by using the QR codes below.
Our parish conferences have had a long history with providing support to those in need and continue to do so. As St Vincent De Paul Society celebrates 170 years in Victoria, we take time to reflect on our parish conferences who have supported the community for many years. This week we read about Camberwell Conference’s history from its early beginnings in 1907 through to today where they share work with Deepdene Balwyn Conference in attending to areas where there are no longer active conferences.
An early history
In March this year parishioners of Our Lady of Victories Church attended the Requiem Mass of the late Arthur Adams QC, along with his family, his colleagues and many friends. For our Conference members he was also our longest serving member, beginning as a young man over 50 years ago. Fr Brendan Reed, as celebrant, referred the congregation to Arthur’s Seat, a monument to his work for the Society, which the parish and our conference had installed in the church grounds in recent years.
But the history of our Conference stretches back long before Arthur’s time. In 1907, before a church was built, the Conference of St John Berchmans (now Our Lady of Victories) was established, with only five members. Their work was to relieve the little poverty they found in the area and to carry out the Society’s special works. This included distribution of Catholic literature, support for the Mission to Seamen and fostering parish Boys Clubs. Their turnover for the year was six pounds, eight shillings and fourpence.
By the 1920s membership had grown to over 20 and although the demand for relief in the local area remained slight, work expanded to include hospital visits and more involvement in special works, particularly the Boys Clubs, with trips and hikes and sporting competitions. It was also noted that five children were redirected from state schools to Catholic ones.
The 1930s Depression saw a great demand for relief, and it is recorded that the Conference was represented on the Camberwell Public Assistance Committee. In 1936, visits to those needing assistance numbered over 500, carried out by 26 members. An Opportunity Van collected and distributed 458 items of clothing and 60 prs of boots, while fares were paid, lodging and employment found, and help provided for funerals. Special works also included Boys Club outings, prison visits and support for the Morning Star Home for Boys. The Conference also recorded 1,000 visits to the Blessed Sacrament, emphasizing the spiritual element of the Society’s works.
Victories in Camberwell, the history of Our Lady of Victories Church and parish, covers vey little of the Conference’s unobtrusive work and lack of self-promotion, a feature of the Society in Australia until quite recently. One small paragraph concerns conference work, but a photograph of a ‘Festival Meeting” in 1937 shows hundreds in attendance, largely from other Victorian conferences, and a swarm of small boys in the foreground, no doubt members of those Boys Clubs.
A major field of work eventuated in the 1940s with support needed by the families of servicemen, when delinquency became a problem. In 1946 three members of the Conference were serving as Voluntary Probation Officers, an extension of the prison visits. In the 1950s care for the homeless also required members to work shifts at the Ozanam House Night Shelter and at another in Fitzroy for alcoholics, at which Arthur Adams remembered serving later. Also in the 1950s, migration was a major work for all conferences, as were post-war drives for the relief of Europe.
In the 1960s reorganisation of St Vincent de Paul in Victoria, Camberwell Conference became part of Camberwell Regional Council and remained active in both local relief work and the special works of the Society. A list of past members contains many names familiar to me as adult parishioners when I was a child, most of whom have passed away, and others who have moved away from the parish or on to other social apostolates.
Twinning was introduced in the 1970s and 1980s, which meant an association between a local conference and one or more conferences in developing nations which would benefit from our financial support especially, but also with which we could maintain a fraternal relationship. Our Twins are St Theresa Conference (The Philippines), St Xavier Conference (India) and St Joseph Conference (Myanmar). Currently, more than $1,000 of your contributions are remitted annually to assist the work of these conferences in places where the needs are many and the Aussie dollar goes a long way. In addition, both conference funds and donations from our members to the Society’s Assist-A-Student program have helped provide for the educational needs of young people selected in Asia-Pacific countries.
Recent history
In 2007 the centenary of our Conference was celebrated in the Our Lady of Victories Basilica, the celebrant being the then parish priest Fr Michael Morgan. There followed hospitality in the Parish Hall, with the usual speeches and awards. Our president then was the late Des Stock, who insisted that the word Amen should not be used at any time in our monthly meeting until the closing prayer, as the meeting itself should be regarded as a prayer. We have since celebrated our 110th anniversary, but without so much pomp and ceremony and with far less lavish catering.
Our numbers dwindled to five again after 2007, but we were able to respond to all of the requests for help conveyed from the Box Hill Call Centre. Our funding came from one annual Winter Appeal at the Basilica and a couple of very generous benefactors. It was only after the arrival of Fr Brendan that we were able to make a second appeal at Christmas, and the opportunity for an extra appeal is much appreciated. Two social housing complexes in East Hawthorn have supplied much of our regular client base, the remainder being mainly in transitional housing maintained in leased properties by the Salvation Army and other organisations. For 20 years we have carried out a weekly bread run, supplying cakes, savoury products and breadstuffs from Brumby’s and Bakers Delight to the soup vans when they were headquartered in North Melbourne.
Also much due to encouragement from Fr Brendan, our number of active members has grown to ten, and this has made it much easier to respond to calls for help. It has also enabled us to share the work of the Deepdene-Balwyn Conference in South Melbourne, North Melbourne and Collingwood, where there are no longer active conferences to respond to the many needs of local residents in the numerous social housing developments in those areas.
In Boroondara, Camberwell and other conferences were able to participate with the Salvos and CamCare in providing Christmas hampers for our clients. Since this arrangement was made unavailable three years ago, we have continued to pack and distribute our own bags of Christmas goodies and shopping vouchers, augmented with gifts from Camberwell Rotary and our parish Giving Tree. Our regular clients are most appreciative of the cakes, puddings, biscuits, confectionery, toiletries and staple food items which they receive just prior to Christmas Day. With the support of parishioners, we hope to continue this tradition.
Our Conferences are always looking for new members to assist in our work. If you are interested in joining or finding out more about the work, please contact the Conference President(s) – details can be obtained from the Parish Office.
John Morrissey
Camberwell Conference
Donations may be made direct to your applicable Parish Conference by visiting their donation page using the link or QR code below.
Surrey Hills Wattle Park Conference
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