THE SALVATION ARMY HOSTS BUILDING DEDICATION & RIBBON CUTTING CELEBRATION FOR NEW CENTER OF HOPE
New Center of Hope will Include Additional Emergency and Transitional Housing, and New Education and Workforce Development Center for Clients and the Birmingham Community
Birmingham, AL (October 5, 2017) – On Wednesday, October 4, 2017, The Salvation Army of Greater Birmingham celebrated the opening of the new Center of Hope with a building dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting. After 50 years in the same location, The Salvation Army is moving to a new location located just off of Finley Boulevard less than 2 miles from the old facility. The Center of Hope is a 4.1-acre campus consisting of four interconnected buildings totaling 110,000 square-feet. The Center of Hope is primarily funded by the Building Hope Capital Campaign initiative, which raised $15.6 million. The capital campaign was led by campaign co-chairs Jim Gorrie, Wayne Gillis and Carl Jernigan, who serve as Advisory Board members. Colonel Ralph Bukiewicz, Southern Territory Chief Secretary dedicated the building and Majors Stephen and Wendy Morris, Divisional Commanders from the ALM Division, participated in the program and ceremony.
The program and services housed at the New Center of Hope will offer solutions to the some of the biggest societal issues and challenges faced today by families, youth, our neighborhoods and our city – problems such as poverty, homelessness, and education.
The Center of Hope will be home to:
- A new program available through our Education and Workforce Development Center, enabling residents and the Birmingham community to advance their education and career readiness through basic life-skills training, GED preparation, and vocational training,
- A Marketplace Food Pantry, which will provide families and individuals the ability to “shop” for items that they need,
- Transitional Apartments reserved for families and individuals as they work toward independence and sufficiency will increase from 12 to 32 units: and
- Pathway of Hope, a new initiative that focuses on solving the problem of intergenerational poverty by opening doors to opportunity, building community alliances to expand access to resources in order to create transformational change for parents and their children.
“The new Center of Hope is more than just a building. It is a place that will restore dignity to the services we provide and will offer hope to individuals and families going through difficult times. It is exciting and humbling to see this finished project, made possible through community support, become a reality for the people we serve. This facility will bless thousands of people in the years to come,” said Major Roger Glick, Area Commander of The Salvation Army of Greater Birmingham.
The new Center of Hope campus was designed around the complete restoration of Lewis Elementary School, which was originally built in 1928. The complex includes three new additional buildings that house a 200-seat capacity dining hall, a two-story men’s residential building and a three-story residential building for women and children. The campus was designed by the architectural firm, LIVE Design Group, and the construction was managed by Brasfield & Gorrie.
Financing included New Markets Tax Credits allocation, provided by AMCREF Community Capital, DV Community Investment and MBS Urban Initiatives CDE, LLC, an affiliate of McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. with US Bancorp Community Development Corporation as the tax credit investor. The New Markets Tax Credit Program is a $61 billion federal program created to encourage investments in communities in need.
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The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army has been serving the Birmingham community since 1899, making it one of the oldest nonprofit organizations in the city. The Salvation Army is also one of the largest direct provider of social services locally. The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, and has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination across the United States and the world. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through a broad array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, clothing, shelter to the homeless and educational opportunities for underprivileged children. For more information, visit BirminghamSalvationArmy.org.
Brasfield & Gorrie
Founded in 1964, Brasfield & Gorrie is one of the nation’s largest privately held construction firms, providing general contracting, design-build, and construction management services for a wide variety of markets. We are skilled in construction best practices, including virtual design and construction, integrated project delivery, and Lean construction, but we are best known for our preconstruction and self-perform expertise and exceptional client service. Brasfield & Gorrie has 12 offices and approximately 2,600 employees. Our 2016 revenues were $2.4 billion. Engineering News-Record ranks Brasfield & Gorrie 30th among the nation’s “Top 400 Contractors” for 2017.
LIVE Design Group
LIVE Design Group is an architecture and interior design firm specializing in Worship facilities. As their name suggests, LIVE Design Group designs their projects LIVE, with the client’s involvement. By designing the project in real-time virtual reality, the client is able to fully experience their space and become a part of the design process. LIVE Design Group’s innovative and immersive approach is unique in the industry and shapes a building design around the client’s vision. LIVE Design Group is changing the way architecture is created and delivered.
