$8.5 million new facility to help more folks in Columbus area. Video shows the plan
The Salvation Army plans to build a new facility and expand its services in Columbus.
And the nonprofit’s local leaders will do it through the Amazing Good capital campaign, seeking to raise $8.5 million to construct a 22,000-square-foot building called the Center of Hope.
The Salvation Army has secured approximately $7 million in the private phase of the campaign, which started two years ago. The public phase to raise the remaining $1.5 million will be launched during a ceremony at 11 a.m. Sept. 1 on the campus at 1718 Second Ave.
“The Salvation Army has called 2nd Avenue home for over 80 years,” Columbus corps officers Capt. Jason Smith said in a news release.
“The current facilities have served our community well by caring for our community’s most vulnerable populations. A new Center of Hope will provide the space and flexibility we need to serve more people even more efficiently, meeting the needs of those in crisis and ultimately helping to lift people out of poverty.”
The two existing structures, 64 years old and totaling 9,000 square feet, will be demolished to make room for the Center of Hope. The new facility, designed by Hecht Burdeshaw Architects of Columbus, will comprise:
- A first floor with a commercial kitchen, community dining room, expanded food pantry, eight offices, a classroom for adult education and life skills, and a laundry room.
- A second floor with 68 beds divided among 17 fully furnished suites for homeless families with children and a courtyard featuring a playground and garden.
The Salvation Army provides:
- Emergency assistance, such as shelter for homeless families with children, food, clothing, rent and utilities support
- Disaster services
- Programs for youth and the aging.
The new downtown facility will complement the Salvation Army’s north Columbus facility, the 20,000-square-foot Lovick P. Corn Worship and Community Center, 5201 Warm Springs Road, which opened in 2005. The Corn Center offers weekly worship services, senior outreach programs, after-school childcare and a summer day camp.
The Center of Hope is expected to open within 18 months of the spring 2023 groundbreaking ceremony.
Rationale for the project
The project is a result of The Salvation Army’s 2017 needs assessment in the community, which identified a growing need for shelter space for families with children, Smith told the Ledger-Enquirer in an emailed interview.
“The organization transitioned from providing shelter to single men to providing hotel/motel vouchers for families with children,” he said.
This need meshed with The Salvation Army’s national initiative called Pathway of Hope, which provides individualized services for families with children to break the generational cycle of crisis and vulnerability, Smith said.
“It seeks to address the root causes of poverty in addition to The Army’s history of compassionate serving,” he said. “By helping families overcome challenges like unemployment, unstable housing, and lack of education, we can lead families down a path toward increased stability and, ultimately, self-sufficiency.”
A point-in-time count this year by United Way agency Home for Good found 245 unsheltered individuals in Columbus, and the Muscogee County School District reported 1,089 students experienced homelessness in 2020, Smith said.
The Salvation Army addresses that problem by providing services such as assistance with rent, mortgage and utility payments, clothing, vouchers for furniture and hotel rooms, case management, a food pantry and daily feeding program.
When the Center for Hope opens, The Salvation Army can end the hotel voucher program because the center’s 17 suites will provide that shelter, Smith said.
“These rooms can be configured to provide additional space for larger families,” he said.
The Salvation Army, which has been in Columbus for 127 years, serves more than 12,000 local residents through its annual budget of $2.5 million, Smith said. An additional 8-10 employees will be added to the 25-person staff to operate the new facility, he said.
The organization also runs the 5,500-square-foot Family Store & Donation Center, 615 Manchester Expressway.
Smith and his wife, Melissa, have served as officers in the Salvation Army for five years. They were appointed as the Columbus corps officers in June 2020.
HOW TO DONATE
To donate to this Salvation Army of Columbus capital campaign or learn more about the Center of Hope project, call 706-561-9026, mail a check to P.O. Box 9143 Columbus, GA 31908 or visit AmazingGood.org. Donations of stocks, bonds and other securities also can be made, Smith said.
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 11:42 AM.
