Salvation Army Center of Hope
Bring Hope to Those Experiencing Homelessness
The Salvation Army has served the greater Richmond community since 1885, offering a variety of programs to help people in need. Now the Salvation Army has embarked on a new and exciting opportunity that will dramatically increase its outreach – The Center of Hope.
“The issue of homelessness is not a Salvation Army issue, it is a city of Richmond issue,” says Lionel Bacon, who serves as community relations and development director. “Over the years, Richmond had taken steps to figure out the problem through various programs and partners. When the city reached out to explore the role the Salvation Army could play, we worked together on the property at 1900 Chamberlayne Avenue, which is our current shelter. It had the size and the location to help the city and the Salvation Army work together to combat the issue of homelessness.”
The shelter is home to 50 men who live there, people who, as Lionel describes them, “have fallen on hard times and need a hand to get to the next step in stable housing.” On the other side of the building is the Inclement Weather Shelter (IWS), open from November 15 to April 15 and other times of the year depending on temperature extremes. “We have been really busy during hot summer days as well as the ice storm last January when we were open 24 hours a day for 17 days straight,” Lionel says. "The IWS is a place to rest your head to be out of the elements versus the other part of the building that is home to 50 men.”
The building also houses 9,000 square feet of space that the city uses to operate the Community Resource and Training Center, which offers a variety of services, including case management for the men who live there.
TowneBank is honored to support the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope project that will significantly increase the organization’s ability to help those in need of a place to stay.
“We do a great job in our current space, but we need more space to serve more people,” Lionel says. “We want people to walk in and feel dignity in a place that’s clean, bright, warm, welcoming, and safe. We are trying to make all of those things happen now, but we will be in a much better position to be successful in the new Center of Hope.”
The current shelter will be torn down and rebuilt into a new state-of-the-art facility that will:
- Increase the number of emergency shelter beds from 50 to 100
- Increase the number of family rooms to ensure families can remain together
- Increase the number of beds for the IWS to 100
- Quadruple program space from 9,000 sq ft to 36,000 sq ft
- Add beds for individuals recovering from illness or injury
The Salvation Army is near the end of a $15 million capital campaign concluding this year that includes a $7 million matching grant from the city of Richmond. “The average gift is around $100. We have a group of women who are encouraging 10,000 women in Richmond to give $100. So far, that campaign has raised $110,000,” Lionel says. Every bit helps.
TowneBank is honored to support the Center of Hope. “Towne is a critical partner for us in the movement,” Lionel says. “Pat Collins, Richmond president, and Alec Schleicher, vice president and commercial banker, came with other guests to take a tour of our operations. We are so grateful that they made that extra effort to learn about our programs.”
Some TowneBank volunteers gave their time and energy to help with landscaping and cleanup at the Salvation Army’s Richmond location.
Lionel explains how the Salvation Army is working to change the conversation about homelessness. “We are challenging people to think differently. We have banned the use of the words ‘homeless people.’ Instead, we use the term ‘people experiencing homelessness.’ When you call someone ‘homeless,’ you are describing them. Whereas when you say, ‘experiencing homelessness,’ you are describing what the person is going through. It’s a temporary label. These are people with names, faces, and stories. If I judge them, I am not fulfilling my assignment from God to help my brothers and sisters.”
For more information and to see how you can help, visit ThisIsHopeVA.org.