The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store of Houma is non-profit, serving the area since 1963.  It is governed by a volunteer board of directors, consisting of one member from each church that has a St. Vincent de Paul Conference.  Our main function is to raise funds to assist the needy in our community through the re-sale of donated goods in uneable condition.  This is our only source of income; we are not funded.  Since 2001, we also support the St. Vincent de Paul TriParish Community Pharmacy.

We represent the St. Vincent de Paul Society, founded in Paris, France in 1833 by Frederic Ozanam, who dedicated his life to helping the poor.  The first American conference was in St. Louis, Missouri in 1845.  St. Vincent is an international Catholic lay organization, which helps in a spirit of justice and charity and by a person-to-person involvement, those who are suffering.

September 25, 2001, our St. Vincent de Paul TriParish Community Pharmacy was opened.  This project aids clients who do not have Medicaid, veteran's benefits or prescription insurance.  We serve those who must choose whether to buy needed medicines--or to buy food--but cannot afford both.  No controlled narcotics or birth control pills are distributed to clients, and clients are screened.

Pharmaceutical companies, physicians, hospitals and nursing homes donate medicine.  Even with these sources, we are unable to fill all prescriptions.  All monies donated are used to purchase additional medicine.  St. Vincent Store pays all pharmacy expenses.