The St. Vincent de Paul Society, which has been headquartered in the heart of downtown Bethpage for more than 25 years, is currently undergoing major office renovations expected to significantly enhance its services to Long Island's poor.

The nonprofit Catholic lay charity organization, which quietly helps tens of thousands of needy local residents each year through a parish-based service network, expects to be in the refurbished office space by spring, according to Mary McCaffrey, its development director. During the renovations, which began in October, the society has been working out of makeshift office space which ordinarily is the site of its Bethpage thrift store, located next door to its headquarters on Broadway. When the new office is finished, the thrift shop, which is currently closed, will re-open.

In interviews this week, the society's administrators noted that the change will enable the organization to better serve the needy.

The building that is under renovation dates to the 1800s and has only undergone minor improvements in recent years, according to Joseph Daly, associate director. Before the society moved in about 25 years ago, it was home to a bank, and until the current renovations began, it still contained bank windows and an unoccupied vault. With the refurbishment, the building has been gutted, old, leaky and collapsing ceilings repaired, and the bank windows and vault removed. The removal of the vault and bank windows made way for the creation of a food pantry for the poor and office partitions, which will increase privacy for the needy who come to the society for help in areas ranging from mortgage payments to finding employment to feeding their children. In addition, Daly noted that re-configuration of the building will likely double its office capacity. Enhancements to the exterior of the building will include a new door and awning.

Founded by Frederic Ozanam, a college student, in Paris in 1833, St. Vincent de Paul assists the poor of all persuasions with clothing, food, emergency shelter, financial aid, travel aid, budgeting advice, and programs for the home-bound elderly, nursing home patients and ex-offenders. On Long Island, the society is represented by over 900 Vincentian volunteers throughout the parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, and operates a network of local thrift stores. In 1997, these Vincentians reported making 12,855 home visits to the needy, handling over 23,000 cases and contributing over 79,704 hours of volunteer time in service to the poor and needy. The 66 participating parishes, which include St. Kilian's of Farmingdale, St. Martin of Tours of Bethpage and St. Elizabeth's of Melville, contributed over $1 million in cash grants and over $1 million in food and free services. The society also operates half-way houses and family assistance programs.

Asked if the renovations will allow the society to expand its services, McCaffrey responded, "We're open to expansion." She added that the society recently added the administration of three half-way houses for women to its roster of services, which has created a significant amount of additional office work, and that the new offices will better accommodate this.

Robert Ellis, the organization's executive director, noted that the new space will not only provide more room for private conferences with those in need of various social services, but will also better equip the society to train volunteers to handle such cases. "We'll be more efficient," he concluded.

The project is being funded strictly through income generated by the society's network of thrift stores, and a total of $25,000 in state grants obtained by Senators Kemp Hannon, Carl Marcellino and Michael Balboni. Ellis noted that the society did not do any fundraising for the project, and that parish collections, which are channeled directly to the poor, were not used.