As Catholics and members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, we see the face of Jesus in those we visit. We have a responsibility to be a “Voice of the Poor (VOP),” and to speak out for those who have no voice.
 

An important part of that mission is to bring the stories of the people we visit into the public spotlight. No other charity or social service agency visits people in their homes, listens to their stories, and offers such compassionate hope and aid. This puts us in a unique position to inform our elected representatives and our community how decisions affect the people for whom we care. In particular, we want to hold our elected representatives accountable for the decisions that they make that affect the poor.
Part VII of the International Rule of the Society, “Relationship with Civil Society, Work for Social Justice,” calls Vincentians to address injustice as part of their mission of service to the poor. Excerpts from Part VII (April, 2005):

Our main goals are:

When Frédéric Ozanam and his friends formed the first Conference, they agreed not to discuss partisan politics. We are not speaking as Democrats, Republicans, or as the member of any political party. We speak as Catholics, whose teaching states that we must consider the needs of those less fortunate when forming our conscience. Catholic Social Teaching , including the US Bishops document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” , as well as our Society of St. Vincent de Paul are clear in those teachings

The national committee has representatives from each of our eight regions allowing for regional communications. Councils are encouraged to each form a Voice of the Poor Committee so that we can begin to develop a network. .

You don’t have to give up your political tenets when you become a member of Voice of the Poor. We are about finding common ground for solutions, including political solutions, to those programs or institutions that create or keep people living in poverty. We advocate for issues, not candidates.

The law provides that charitable organizations can engage in lobbying. In fact, the general experience for many organizations is that they have increased their impact by carefully undertaking lobbying activities. We are not permitted by law to engage in electioneering ― in other words, getting involved in supporting or opposing a particular political candidate. Get-out-the-vote and voter education campaigns, including education about a specific issue, are not, by law, considered electioneering. Lobbying policymakers is just one aspect of political or social involvement. Another is advocacy, which means simply arguing in favor of a particular cause or action. Not-for-profit organizations by their very existence are advocates for something specific, such as the arts, the environment, education, justice, transportation, poverty, and so forth. When you read our mission, it is clear that we have a responsibility to advocate for those we serve and to alleviate the root causes of poverty. We do this most effectively and in an organized way through our Voice of the Poor committees at the national and local levels.

See the document: Starting a Voice of the Poor Committee