Salvation Army Today

Sir Samuel Kelly Residential Home

Sir Samuel Kelly Residential Home is near Belfast in the UK. A local family gifted the home to The Salvation Army in the 1960's and is located on 3 acres of woodland and landscaped gardens.
Since then, it has been used for the care of older people in the community. The home functions with a compassionate staff, personalized care plans, and an imaginative approach to maximizing quality-of-life.
Recently, the original ‘old family home’ has been refurbished, which will be able to provide accommodation for 56 residents.
To find out more about The Salvation Army in the UK visit salvationarmy.org.uk

Helping Hand Grant

Recently at the Salvation Army’s Brownsville Corps Community Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., community leaders, family members, and other supporters gathered virtually via Zoom to award the inaugural Helping Hand Grants (HHG) to three deserving students as they transition from high school to college.
 
Major Steven Lopes, with his wife, Major Valerie Lopes, have been the corps officers in Brownsville for the past two years. They’re excited about this unique initiative that has the potential to benefit the local community and be repeated in many others throughout the territory and perhaps the United States.
 
The Helping Hand Grant project encourages young people to rise above their challenges. It puts a spotlight on the kids who often live in the shadows of A–plus students and recognizes individuals who fall in the middle.
 
They don’t get highlighted because they’re not on either ends of the extreme. But they’re doing wonderful and great things;  meeting the challenges of school and everyday life.
 
For more stories like these, visit SALVATIONARMYSOUNDCAST.ORG/SATODAY
 

Second Global Wave of Prayer for COVID-19

SALVATIONISTS and friends around the world are being called by General Brian Peddle to take part in an international prayer initiative on Sunday October 24th.
 
The Second Global Wave of Prayer for COVID-19 will work its way around the world from sunrise to sunset in every country it passes through. The simple message to people linked to The Salvation Army is this: wherever you are, pray!
 
The initiative follows a spiritually enriching prayer-wave that took place in April of 2020, just as the pandemic was beginning to fully take hold. Then it was an urgent response to the rapidly worsening situation.
But this year there has been opportunity to put plans in place so that people around the world can prepare their hearts and minds to bring their concerns, experiences, and praise to God.
 
More information will be made available on the Second Global Wave of Prayer for COVID-19 webpage at sar.my/prayerwave.

Down for the Challenge

After months of buildup, The Salvation Army’s Down for the Challenge rappelling event took place Sept. 18 at Mall of America, where about 200 people descended the JW Marriott hotel to fight homelessness.
Women and men of all ages and backgrounds took the plunge. Most were nervous as they stood on the edge of the hotel roof, staring wide-eyed at the pavement 14 stories below.
Down for the Challenge raised tens of thousands of dollars for Salvation Army housing and homelessness-prevention programs in the Twin Cities.
The Salvation Army operates 25 Minnesota housing facilities that shelter hundreds of people every night, with rent assistance programs that last year saved 2,400 local households from eviction.

Disaster Relief Grant

The Salvation Army has received a $10 million grant from Lilly Endowment Incorporated to support ongoing emergency response and long-term recovery for those affected by Hurricane Ida from Louisiana to New England and by wildfires across 10 western states.
The additional support will be pivotal for the nation's largest private provider of social services as it meets the needs of communities affected by natural disasters while continuing a multi-year response to COVID-19.
 
The grant will help thousands of families across more than a dozen states to get back into their homes and find stability. Emergency response has included meeting the urgent need for food, clean water, safe shelter, and critical hygiene supplies. Long-term recovery will focus on various forms of financial assistance, continued distribution of critical supplies, and disaster case management.
 
The Salvation Army will continue providing emotional and spiritual care to survivors and first responders from response through recovery. All services are conducted with additional COVID-19 safety measures to ensure disaster workers and survivors are safe while entrusted to Salvation Army care.
 

The Redesign Store

Recycling is a key concept at The Salvation Army’s  ‘Vintage and Redesign’ shop in the coastal town of Helsingør, Denmark.
The Redesign Store is where skilled and passionate craftspeople reinvent items of clothing and accessories when the, quote, ‘pre-loved’ donations cannot be resold in their current condition. The initiative aims to be environmentally responsible in the reuse of materials, as well as to provide training and employment opportunities, raise money for the work of The Salvation Army in Denmark and bring joy to the new owners of the unique artisan products it sells.
The doors to this location opened in February of 2019, and on opening day saw more than 300 customers and resulted in the sales of over $3,000.
The Redesign ethos is rooted in the Christian values of justice and compassion, to be good stewards of what we have been given and to care for the world we call home.
 
For more stories like these, visit SALVATIONARMYSOUNDCAST.ORG/SATODAY

Giving Season Begins 100 Days Before Christmas

With the resurgence of the pandemic and just 11 weeks until Christmas, The Salvation Army is digging in for another challenging season of need.
As millions of people continue to struggle with the impacts of pandemic poverty, The Salvation Army is calling on everyone to help individuals and families overcome the threat of eviction amid the holiday season.
 
Roughly 1.2 million Americans say they are very likely to face eviction over the next two months. With a slow distribution of federal funding, families could be evicted before relief arrives. The Salvation Army has already distributed more than $200 million dollars in direct financial assistance to help people stay in their homes in 2021.
 
Now more than ever, The Salvation Army needs everyone's help. Whether you’re enlisting in love’s Army with a sustaining gift of $25 per month, or volunteering at a Red Kettle- you can make a difference.
 
To find volunteer opportunities near you, or to find assistance, visit SALVATIONARMYUSA.ORG

Angel Tree Applications

The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program is already up and running for Christmas and now accepting applications.
Every child deserves to experience the joy of Christmas morning. The Salvation Army Angel Tree program helps provide Christmas gifts for hundreds of thousands of children around the country each year. Once a child or senior adult has been registered and accepted as an Angel; their Christmas wish list is shared with donors in your community who purchase gifts of new clothing and toys. The gifts are then distributed to the family to place under their family Christmas tree.
While the Angel Tree Program may not be active in your area, visit SAANGELTREE.ORG to see if you qualify.
 
This is the time of year The Salvation Army needs the most help. If you are interested in volunteering this Christmas season, visit https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/volunteer/
 
 

A Great Achievement

The first students have graduated from The Salvation Army’s inaugural Mental Health and Addictions training program in Samoa.
The graduation ceremony was the culmination of three years of work that began in 2018 after the Samoan Government invited The Salvation Army to provide church, community and social services in the country.
At the time, about 80 per cent of criminal cases, domestic violence, burglary, theft and traffic offences involved alcohol.
 
Nat Senio, an alcohol and other drugs clinician with The Salvation Army said;
“It soon became very apparent that the need for alcohol and drug rehabilitation services was going to be significant as we soon began to exceed the predicted number of referrals, which then naturally progressed to further consideration of how we were going to best meet this need going forward,
“To date, we have supported 1037 clients through our Addiction Services.”
 
To learn more, visit salvationarmy.org/ihq
 

Day of Prayer for Victims of Human Trafficking

EVERY year, the fourth Sunday in September is set aside as The Salvation Army’s International Day of Prayer for Victims of Human Trafficking.
 
This day provides an important focal point for prayer to support people caught up in trafficking and those working with survivors. It’s a day for The Salvation Army and friends around the world to lift their voices and corporately cry out for justice and freedom.
 
The theme for this year’s day of prayer, which took place this past Sunday, is Beyond the Dark, inspired by 1st Peter chapter 2.
 
The importance of increasing the number of people taking part in the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking is explored in an interview by Commissioner Rosalie Peddle.
 
The interview will be available to watch on the International Women’s Ministries Facebook page (facebook.com/SalvArmyWomen)
 
For additional resources, visit
www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/