Fort Carson Soldiers team up with Salvation Army for community

Thousands get a Thanksgiving meal in Colorado Springs thanks to Salvation Army, Fort Carson and volunteers

KOAA 5 News
Jessica Barreto
November 22, 2018

COLORADO SPRINGS – Thousands of people in Southern Colorado got a Thanksgiving dinner thanks to a tag-team effort between The Salvation Army and U.S. Army soldiers assigned to Fort Carson. The Salvation Army hosts the meal. The Fort Carson Soldiers do the cooking.

“Our cooks have been prepping food for about the last week,” said Brigadier General, William J. Thigpen. read more here

Also, Firefighters open their stations to Air Force trainees for Thanksgiving
SAN ANTONIO - Firefighters at just about every fire station across the city are celebrating their Thanksgiving with the men and women in Air Force.

This is the 14th year for "Operation: Homecooking." Military Trainees at Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland, who were not able to be with their own families today, were invited to share delicious firehouse food with firefighters.

Disabled Veteran and Family Face Homelessness

Veterans receive needed help during stand down event
Herald Review.com
Theresa Churchill
November 15, 2014

DECATUR – Confusion about how Jay Carlson was wounded in Iraq and whether as a National Guardsman he qualified for veterans benefits precipitated a downward spiral.

Now, he and his wife and her daughter face eviction from their two-bedroom house over what they describe as a dispute with their landlord over a broken water heater.

But dark clouds began to lift Friday as the Decatur couple found help they needed at the Salvation Army during an annual Veterans' Stand Down, co-sponsored by the Decatur Coalition for Veterans' Concerns and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Carlsons began the process of obtaining emergency housing until they can move into a handicapped-accessible apartment at North Street Commons for homeless military veterans.

“Thankfully, we got connected through our mental health counselor,” Ginger Carlson said. “With his (post-traumatic stress disorder), my husband definitely gets a little overwhelmed trying to sort through everything.”

Jay Carlson has been unable to walk since suffering a MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection after a bullet grazed his left leg.

Carlson, 43, was one of about 90 veterans who stopped by Friday's stand down, an event begun in 2009 in a church parking lot in conjunction with the community's Box City observance of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
read more here

Free housing deals for Salvation Army officers?

Stunned by this report? Wondering how is it that the Salvation Army is paying for houses? Do they look at it the same way churches do and they supply housing for their clergy? I doubt anyone would have a problem with that as long as the property was in the name of the organization and not the person living there. It happens all the time but we never think of it.

The more expensive home away from where the Majors and Commander live seem just wrong when you think about the need increasing for people to be helped and many of the people seeking help of the Salvation Army have lost their homes along with everything else, plus add in people usually able to donate are seeking help for themselves now, the Salvation Army is under attack for something that was probably a practice they had for many years when times were better.

Don't let this report take away from the rank and file workers of the Salvation Army doing this work.

Free housing deals for Salvation Army officers create image problem
Mitch Lipka
Jan 5th 2010 at 10:00AM

Probably at the bottom of the list of things the millions of donors to the Salvation Army expect of those running the charity's programs would be arrogance and a cushy lifestyle.

If you're one of those donors, the purchases of two homes in Massachusetts for Salvation Army officers and the comments by a resident of one might change that perspective.

The Salvation Army, a religious organization best known for helping the homeless and addicted, does not lavish great wealth upon its officers. But as part of its compensation package, it does provide them with housing.

A story by the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette done in conjunction with Boston University's New England Center for Investigative Reporting showed the practice can create some serious image problems at a time when charities are battling over a shrunken pool of donations.

First, we'll start with Divisional Commander Major William Bode. He and his wife Major Joan Bode (Salvation Army officers share the same ranks as their wives, who also serve the organization) live in a $900,000 home in Needham, Mass. Nice.

Then there's Major Michael Copeland, who, by his own account, repeatedly pushed property limits set for him in the Worcester area until settling on a four bedroom, two and a half bath home in suburban Holden, Mass., for $350,000 (pictured above). When the basement and garage are added in, the home's 3,800 square feet exceeds the 3,000 square foot cap permitted by the Salvation Army's own rules.
read more here
Free housing deals for Salvation Army officers

Homeless Veteran Beats the Streets in Canada

Homeless Veteran Beats the Streets
Thirty-year-old Ryan McKenna is one of nine homeless veterans living at The Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope in Calgary. Following two tours of duty in the Persian Gulf, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) led to his marriage breakdown and cycles of substance abuse and addiction. It wasn’t long before he was living on the streets.

“Being part of a ships crew that contributes to the war on terror leaves you with a level of anxiety and stress that you never overcome,” says Ryan. “We were on high alert at all times, which meant we had to be ready for anything. Daily drills, without warning, prepared us for man overboard, fires, floods, rescue and attack. You never knew if the drill was for real or a test.
“I stayed strong while on duty, but when I returned home to Halifax in 2003 my anxiety and depression surfaced. Social workers were unable to grasp the magnitude of my PTSD. I drank excessively to drown my emotions.

“Alcoholism is a terrible thing. It destroyed my family. My marriage fell apart and I lost custody of my sons, 5 and 3. I moved to Calgary to start a new life. When I arrived at The Salvation Army Centre of Hope I was unemployed, addicted to alcohol and homeless.”

The Calgary Centre of Hope provides accommodation for more than 400 residents, including some emergency housing, women’s shelter, mental health population accommodations, food and life skills training, chapel and counselling services, and recreational programs. As a homeless shelter the building recognizes and responds to the hardness of the lifestyle of those who use it by providing opportunities to regain a foothold in society.

In May, 2009, Ryan successfully completed The Salvation Army’s residential addictions recovery program. “My job was to fix me,” says Ryan. “The Salvation Army gave me the tools I needed to deal with life’s curves appropriately.”

Ryan is currently employed as a concrete worker. “I was so psychologically scarred from military service I never thought I could be a contributing member of society,” says Ryan. “The Salvation Army was here for me when I was as wounded as someone bleeding on the battlefield. This is the most stability I’ve had in a long time.”
To view Ryan’s recent interview with CBC click here.

Darryl E. Owens: Salvation Army needs your sweaters, not just pennies

A couple of times a year I go thru what we don't need anymore and donate them to the Vietnam Veterans. After reading this, I'm going to do it one extra time this year and drop them off at the Salvation Army. How about you? I know times are tough and you may want to sell some of the things you don't need at a yard sale, but you do get a tax deduction with donating to the Salvation Army at the same time you're doing something good for someone else.

Darryl E. Owens: Salvation Army needs your sweaters, not just pennies
Black Friday

with shoppers lining up at ungodly hours to nab heavenly deals -- traditionally starts the winter-holiday shopping season.

Traditionally, it has also marked high tide in the flood of donations to charitable groups such as the Salvation Army, as enlightened altruists think end-of-the-year tax breaks.

But then, traditions are made to be broken.

If the past six months are prologue, the group known for trotting out a red kettle during Christmastime may need to pass around a tin cup to scare up enough donations to serve the swelling ranks of the needy who depend on its thrift stores to clothe their families.

From the beginning, donated items plunged. Daily donations that once averaged about 8,000 pieces of clothing have slumped to between 4,000 and 5,000.

"We don't know if people are wanting to hold on to items or stretch the life of their clothing or bric-a-brac," says Justine Birmingham, a spokeswoman for the charity.

Meanwhile, the plunging financial markets sparked soaring thrift-store sales, Birmingham says.

Only supply isn't meeting the record demand.

"While we have large numbers coming in wanting to purchase, wanting to make their dollars stretch more, unfortunately, we don't always have the products," Birmingham says.
click link for more

Sleeping in the woods, under bridges

Home in the cold
Sleeping in the woods, under bridges - count proves homeless people are out there

By Raymond Castile
Saturday, February 16, 2008 1:16 PM CST


He wears eight sweaters and a coat. The Army taught him how to survive outdoors, he says, biting into a sandwich.

"You got to dress in layers, eat meat and keep your body in shape, or you get sick out here," said Michael Myers, flashing a Veteran's Identification Card displaying his name.

Myers, 48, served seven years in the Army. He has spent the last eight years homeless.The veteran begins his day around 6 a.m. in northern St. Charles, where he often spends the night in the woods. If he has money, he buys a cup of coffee. If he is broke, he goes to SSM St. Joseph Health Center and drinks free coffee.

"They don't like that, but I don't care," he said. "I was born at St. Joseph, so I should get a lifetime of free coffee."

At 8 a.m., Myers begins searching back alleys for cans and metal scraps. By 11 a.m., he exchanges them for money at Cash's Scrap Metal and Iron on Junior Drive. Then he walks to the Salvation Army on 2140 N. Fourth St. to eat lunch at the soup kitchen.

That is where Myers sat Jan. 30, eating a sandwich in the company of other homeless men, like Terrance Marshall, 55.

"I could be sleeping outside today. I don't know," said Marshall, a Petty Officer 3rd Class who served in the U.S. Navy 1974-78.
click post title for the rest

Most of us are one paycheck away from being homeless. Most of us try to work hard for what we have and what we need but it doesn't always matter. I ended up out of a job after working for a church for two years. I don't even get unemployment because the church didn't pay into the system. We're having to refinance our house to make up the difference in my lost income. I only worked part time so that I could do this work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. When people asked me what I did for a living, I'd laugh and tell them "I work for God and in my spare time, I work for the church." Now I'm out of a job, trying to find part time work in a recession so that I can continue my life's work. After all, we moved from Massachusetts for this reason. It just didn't work out the way I hoped it would.

I tried to get donations for the videos I do so that I wouldn't end up in the poor house on top of everything, but the donations didn't even get me even with what it cost me. The DVD drive broke and I couldn't afford to replace the PC with one that would be able to handle the workload. No one has money to donate. The people who do have money, don't donate as much as they should to charities so helping out a person like me is not even a dream anymore. Still this is not why my heart is breaking. The numbers of homeless go up and so do the numbers of billionaires in this country. I wonder what the hell they are going to do with all the money they accumulated in this lifetime when they are dead and can't take it with them? Could you imagine what could be done in this country if they would just pitch in and help people out?