St. Vincent de Paul, East Jefferson County
Project: Emergency assistance for neighbors in need
Request: $15,000
Your gift is rent, a power bill, and a car repair — this week.
St. Vincent de Paul's East Jefferson County Conference helps neighbors with necessities: food, gas, shelter, overdue utility bills and rent. It also helps with transportation, auto repairs and fees, propane, firewood, tents, prescriptions, laundry and phones.
Through 46 weeks of the 2026 fiscal year, the conference received 1,266 calls for help and assisted 962 households — 1,286 adults, 334 children, 229 people who were homeless, and 155 new neighbors.
Emergency, short-term assistance
St. Vincent de Paul keeps the lights on and gas in the tank while neighbors work with, and wait for, long-term solutions from the organizations that provide comprehensive help with housing, food, employment and medical treatment.
That gap between first contact and actual resolution is sometimes where people fall. Comprehensive services take time to arrange, and a shut-off notice doesn't. St. Vincent de Paul covers the interval.
And it does so quickly. Neighbors call or text on Sunday and meet volunteers in Chimacum on Wednesday or Port Townsend on Thursday to receive exactly the help they need. Almost everyone who calls in a given week is served that week
Your neighbors in need
Who calls St. Vincent de Paul. Your neighbors in need. People unhoused, living in tents, cars or trailers without utilities. People who are housed, often in Section 8 or subsidized housing. Mothers and fathers, often with children. Grandparents caring for grandchildren. Young people on their own with no family and little financial help. Seniors on fixed incomes. People with medical conditions who need transportation to treatment. People who work, people looking for work, people without work.
Assistance is given to all, regardless of race, religion, national origin, citizenship status, gender identity, age, disability or military status.
Their own summary is the line worth remembering: our neighbors' greatest vulnerability is that it takes very little to shift a neighbor from "hangin' in there" to "down and out."
Here are the problems you can help solve
Not every grant St. Vincent de Paul qualifies for is annual, which makes their UGN/Give Jefferson funding particularly important. It provided 8% of the FY2025 budget and 10% of FY2026 — and may be a larger share next year, because overall donations are declining.
Without our help, they would be forced to cut their weekly spending budget, directly reducing how many neighbors they can help.
What your donation makes possible
Your gift would be used primarily for rent, utilities, and auto repairs and fees — the three highest-cost categories with the most serious consequences if unpaid — with a small amount for other necessities like laundry and phones.
The bottom line
Roughly 98% of funds go directly to neighbors, and they receive no government funding whatsoever. About $3,000 goes out every week. Your donation replenishes it.
