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Organization's 28 centers challenged by the growing demand for assistance
BY LINDA MOSS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
FIRST IN A FOUR-PART SERIES ON THE SALVATION ARMY IN NEW JERSEY
The dour economy is straining the resources of the Salvation Army in New Jersey: Demand for its services has multiplied, with even former donors seeking help. Officials are taking new steps as they struggle to help the needy in these tough times.
Last month, the Salvation Army corps in cities including Hackensack and Atlantic City participated in "Christmas in July." In towns across the country, the Salvation Army sent out a force with bells and red kettles to solicit donations. That practice is usually reserved for the Yuletide season, but desperate times call for new measures.
"We have not been to this point before," said Major Vicki Berry, associate divisional commander for the Salvation Army in New Jersey.
The economy's strain on the Salvation Army in general has been so burdensome that the organization is cost-cutting, with plans to close two Hurricane Katrina recovery centers in the Gulf Coast area.The Salvation Army's New Jersey division, which has a large presence in the state and is headquartered off the Garden State Parkway in Union, is seeking innovative ways to raise funds.
The organization is soliciting input from business leaders so it can rev up its fundraising efforts, creating a statewide advisory board to offer guidance and expertise on how to do better fundraising, smarter marketing and savvier strategic planning, according to Berry.
The advisory group, with a dozen people, includes representatives of companies such as New Jersey Natural Gas, Johnson & Johnson, and Rasmussen Reports, as well as attorneys, Realtors, public relations executives and architects.
"We can't turn people away who are in need, so we really need to be creative in how we increase our fundraising, because the people in need are still going to be there," Berry said. "People have lost their jobs. The employment rate is still down."
General fundraising for the overall New Jersey division has been flat this year, with some of its community centers performing better than that and others down in the 10 percent to 15 percent range, according to Major Donald Berry, who is married to Vicki and is the commander of the Salvation Army's New Jersey division.
He expects that some Garden State Salvation Army centers may face financial shortfalls this year, because of increased requests for assistance and higher operating costs. The state division is advising its centers to more carefully watch their finances, he said.
Requests for help have multiplied across the nation for the Salvation Army, which describes itself as an evangelical group with a military structure that preaches the Gospel, but meets human needs in Jesus' name "without discrimination."
In New Jersey, there has been a double and triple increase in "requests for assistance, because people who would have found themselves donating to the Salvation Army may now find themselves coming to the Salvation Army for food pantry assistance, for utility assistance, for rent assistance, even pharmaceutical assistance," Vicki Berry said.
The summer kettle campaign was born out of necessity.
"It was an idea to help increase fundraising, because of the increased demand for service," she said. "Our fiscal year ends Sept. 30. So by the time we get into this part of the year, when we're having this explosion of requests, we are at the end of our rope trying to balance the budget. So the idea of Christmas in July came about to help increase fundraising. People aware of what the money in the kettle goes for will just help us offset that explosion of requests."
The Salvation Army, a church whose officers are all ordained ministers, has a big footprint in the Garden State. In fiscal 2007-2008, the New Jersey division had a $32 million budget and operated 28 corps community centers throughout the state, including Englewood, Paterson, Trenton, Dover, Morristown, Asbury Park and Toms River.
A recent survey of 13 of those Salvation Army centers, nearly half of all those in the state, found that the number of people served in June versus January was up 52 percent, according to the New Jersey division.
The New Jersey Salvation Army also has 139 service extension units, where volunteers provide assistance. It employs 288 people in the state.
The organization, and its local units, have some new initiatives this year, as well. The Salvation Army opened a handsome $8.3 million state-of-the art Citadel, or community corps center, in Montclair in March. It also is conducting its summer residential camp program in Hunterdon County.
But the Salvation Army's most challenging undertaking is its effort to raise $10 million to build an ambitious community center in Camden, which could be a beacon of hope for the beleaguered city. That project is being mainly funded by a $54 million bequest from Joan Kroc, the widow of fast-food chain McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, with those funds contingent on Camden raising $10 million.
The Salvation Army was founded almost 150 years ago in London by Methodist minister William Booth, and the group spread around the world. It has 6,800 congregation members in the Garden State.
In New Jersey, the Salvation Army may be best known for its thrift shops and soup kitchens, but in fact it offers a vast array of social services. During the last fiscal year, the New Jersey division provided basic social services — food, clothing, and heating and utility assistance — to 286,000 people. It also served more than 789,000 hot meals at its lunch program.
The Salvation Army operates four adult residential alcohol and drug rehab centers in the state. Those clients are the people who sort clothes and staff the well-known thrift shops.
"They in turn are getting back into the community on a gradual basis," Vicki Berry said. "So they get work skill, and try to get them rehabbed with their chemical dependency, and then back in the community."
The Salvation Army also runs three homeless shelters in the Garden State, including the Cornerstone House in Montclair. In addition to food and utility assistance, its vast array of programs also include after-school tutorial programs for kids; music, drama and dance classes; computer training; day care; and a prison ministry.
Last year, the New Jersey Salvation Army also distributed 3,000 toiletry kits to New Jersey National Guard troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Community corps centers, also called citadels, also have chapels for worship services. But while the Salvation Army's mission is Christian-faith based, people don't have to subscribe to any religion to receive its service, Vicki Berry said.
"For anyone who comes through the door and asks, assistance is given," she said. "No faith questions are asked whatsoever. But we are always willing to share our faith, and feel that is the reason we're so successful in helping the poor."
OTHER STORIES IN THE SALVATION ARMY SERIES
Salvation Army citadel expands services in Montclair as need grows
Camp Tecumseh brings salvation to New Jersey kids
Salvation Army has high hopes for Camden center
