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Divisional Outreach Amid COVID-19

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The Salvation Army Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi has been here to help our neighbors in need throughout 2020. Due to back-to-back hurricanes and the global COVID-19 pandemic, added hardships have left many in a much greater need than ever before, and The Salvation Army was blessed and happy to be available to serve. Here are a few stories from throughout the ALM Division.

 

Vicksburg

A client lost their job at a daycare center due to COVID-19 restrictions. The daycare closed and has not yet re-opened. The client has been looking for a new job for four months and has not found anything yet. In May, the Vicksburg Corps has been able to assist her with utility payments. Her water had been turned off, so The Salvation Army provided the client with drinking water and contacted the water company to help sort through her bill. The water company agreed to turn her water on the day the invoice was paid in full, so the Army paid the balance. Vicksburg Corps Officer, Major Janna Torgerson, hand-delivered the water bill, so the water was restored before the weekend.

 

Greenwood

A young mother of four was laid off from work and had recently experienced a house fire that resulted in losing all of her belongings. The Salvation Army of Greenwood gave her a clothing voucher to provide clothes for her and her children. The Greenwood Corps doesn’t have a shelter, so the Army covered a week’s stay in a hotel and helped the client to contact other local resources that could help. Corps Officers, Captains Jason and Keisha McMullin ended the time with the client in prayer and invited her to participate in the Pathway of Hope Program Ministry. The Army will assist in furnishing her new home.

 

Tuscaloosa

The Salvation Army in Tuscaloosa made a difference in a family with 13 children. As school approached this August, after a tough summer of layoffs and other stressors of COVID-19, the family needed everything. The Salvation Army provided clothes, backpacks, school supplies, snacks, and spiritual reassurance for a positive school year for all the children.

 

Huntsville

The Salvation Army of Huntsville has had the opportunity to assist several individuals who have never been in a position where they needed assistance. As first-time clients, they were nervous, embarrassed, and stressed. Huntsville Corps officers and staff were able to minister to them, share love and understanding instead of judgment.

 

Monroe

The Salvation Army of Monroe has provided meals, financial assistance, utility assistance, and housing throughout the Northeast Louisiana community to those affected by COVID-19 and back-to-back Hurricanes Laura and Delta. During a community feeding, a hungry woman stopped by the canteen for food for both her soul and physical being. After learning about The Salvation Army, she began to cry hysterically to be a blessing to her and others in the community. “This encounter was an emotional one for not only myself but others who were there,” Monroe Corps Officer, Captain Jerry Casey shared.

 

Gadsden

A deaf woman visited The Salvation Army of Gadsden shelter and could only communicate through sign language. Luckily, a corps staff member was fluent in sign language. This person was a Canadian citizen and did not have any family in the United States. In addition to serving her through shelter, the staff worked with the Canadian Embassy in Atlanta, Georgia, to contact her family back in Canada. The embassy provided an airplane ticket back to Canada and provided a temporary passport for the client to cross the border and be near home.

 

Commissioner Howell Speaks at Gadsden Corps’ Annual Dinner

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The Salvation Army of Gadsden, Alabama’s Annual Dinner was held on May 14, 2019. It was an opportunity for the Gadsden Corps to meet with their community of supporters and volunteers and discuss their work in the community. The speaker and guest of honor, Territorial Commander of The Salvation Army Southern Territory, Commissioner Willis Howell, spoke about that work and the significant difference The Salvation Army can make in the lives of those in need. It was part of the Commissioner’s initiative to remind the community of The Salvation Army’s “Why” — why The Salvation Army exists and what it should accomplish.

Commissioner Howell spoke about the organization he leads as a safety net that can help save people who are fallen and hurting. It is a “mission and a vision of The Salvation Army that I am 100% behind,” said Gadsden Corps officer, Captain Dennis Hayes, who introduced the Commissioner. As a former student of Commissioner Howell, Captain Hayes spoke of his dedication to the Army. And it was a dedication to that vision that the Commissioner continued to address.

Commissioner Howell’s speech was about helping people in the world who are at spiritual risk in their life, as well as those in physical need. “If The Salvation Army stopped only with catching people when they fell; if all we did was stretch out our safety net to catch those who find themselves in free fall, people in communities all around the south, people would applaud,” he said. As he continued, he made the point that the “why” of The Salvation Army, in Gadsden and all over the world, is to help people find something more. Commissioner Howell said,“We don’t help people simply to help them, and that’s that. We help people to, yes, get them back on their feet, but it also gives us the opportunity as The Salvation Army to talk to them about Jesus.”

A Drop In The Bucket

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Where does your dollar go? For over 120 years The Salvation Army has had bell ringers outside during the Christmas season, collecting donations in our iconic red kettles. During this season it’s not hard to imagine a hungry child or struggling family receiving food and shelter thanks to the community’s support. But that’s not where it ends. Read on to learn how one small town in Alabama benefits from the community’s support of The Salvation Army.

 

No Place To Call Home

Homelessness is a hard life, and it touches communities big and small. Even in a small town like Gadsden, Alabama, there are those who have no place to call home. And it is the community that is helping them, though their donations to The Salvation Army. “We’re lodging an average of 10-15 (people) a night. Getting them off the street,” says Captain Dennis Hayes, the Gadsden Salvation Army Corps Officer. Those needs are often more acute at Christmas, but they do not end after December. Thankfully, the red kettle donations help to fund the work of The Salvation Army year-round. “We average around 45-50 people a year, helping them get out of homelessness,” Captain Hayes says.

 

Needs Beyond Homelessness

Those in need are not always homeless. Holiday meals can stretch an already thin budget, and those struggling to make a living often find themselves without enough money for food. Attending to the needs of the community remains a year-round mission for The Salvation Army. “We feed several thousand people year. Not all of them are homeless but they are low income and the money just doesn’t go far enough for food,” says Captain Hayes.

And hot meals are not the only way to serve. Recently, the Gadsden Corps began a program that can help people continue to make meals in their own homes. “We just now started our senior food program. They come in once a month to pick up a prepackaged box of food,” says Vermelle Bonfanti, Social Service Case Worker for The Salvation Army of Gadsden.

 

Project SHARE

But again, food is not the only need. The community helps keep the lights on for those in need with Project SHARE, which is funded by Alabama Power customers who donate through their monthly electric bills. “On your bill, when you pay your bill it asks, ‘would you like to donate to the SHARE program’ and that’s where that money comes from,” says Bonfanti. These funds allow The Salvation Army to directly aid those in need. “We gave out $8,000 worth of money this year to people who needed help with their power bills as well as gas,” says Bonfanti.

 

Help All Year Long

The money that’s placed in the red kettle is only one avenue for giving, but those resources are part of The Salvation Army’s mission to do the most good in the communities we serve all year long. Donations to our kettles help provide meals, supplemented with donations of food. They help provide services, supplemented by the aid of volunteers. “On top of that, we also give spiritual and emotional care,” says Captain Hayes, “if we can’t do anything but listen we try to do that. We’re there to help them, so that‘s a part of what we do for the community, we try to make it a better place to live.”

You can help by donating to our kettles in person, and now you can also give to our online red kettle here: Online Red Kettle