Founded in 1855 by five German, Roman Catholic parishes in Philadelphia, St. Vincent’s, in the new millennium, has evolved into services for teenage girls including: institutional and group home Mother/Baby/Maternity programs, Long Term care programs, an Emergency Shelter and a Family Preservation service. Additionally, St. Vincent’s maintains its community based Day Care/Early Childhood program.

St. John Neumann, then pastor of St. Peter’s Church at 5th and Girard (one of the five parishes) and later the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, saw the need for out of home living arrangements for a growing number of children within the community. Among these were “foundling” orphans, while most were victims of family dissolution as a result of illness, death or abandonment. From the beginning, the St. Vincent mission has been to meet the needs of  children and youth by providing a safe and caring environment.

Over the next 150 years St. Vincent’s has changed to meet differing needs of dependent, neglected and abused children and youth. Early admissions included Civil War orphans in 1869. Other threats to children included new immigrant populations, the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918, the World Wars, and the Depression, pushing the number of admissions to over 2000 by the year 1925. In 1961 large numbers of Cuban children were admitted as a result of the flight from the Castro revolution.

In more recent times, the cause of placement can be traced to drugs and mental health issues. A Day Care center was opened to serve local community needs in 1981. In 1984 St. Vincent’s accepted an Emergency Shelter program from the closing of St. Joseph’s Hall. In 1990 the Shelter was further modified into a 90 day Comprehensive Emergency Shelter program, and in 1998 the DHS requested St. Vincent’s open a Family Preservation program to aid in returning more children to their families. In 2003, the Mother/Baby/Maternity program became operational and added a residential treatment component in 2005. Finally, in 2006, St. Joseph Catholic Home for Girls was merged with St. Vincent’s. Their programs, which included two group homes in the community and a residential long term program for teenage girls, have been absorbed by St. Vincent’s.

As result of these recent changes, St. Vincent’s has essentially become an adolescent girl’s facility. St. Vincent’s has survived by adapting to the changes needed in the plight of disadvantaged children and youth in society and the internal changes necessary within the Catholic Social Services system. Presently, St. Vincent’s operates under the auspices of Catholic Human Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The mission continues. During its more than 150 years of service, St. Vincent’s, Tacony has served over 10,000 families and their children.