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The Salvation Army is serving individuals and families struggling with freezing temperatures, snow, and power outages across the country and preparing for additional waves of potentially deadly conditions. This comes at the same time the organization responds to wildfires in the West, provides long-term hurricane and tornado recovery, and aids families hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While the most vulnerable members of our society find themselves left out in the cold, The Salvation Army opens our doors to offer more than a hot meal,” said Commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder, National Commander of The Salvation Army. “We are uniquely positioned to offer emergency warming shelters, winter clothes, blankets, and emotional and spiritual care to thousands of unhoused individuals and families.”

With 7,000 centers of operation already serving in every ZIP code, the organization is able to quickly ramp up winter services across the country to provide shelter, food, clothing, and emotional and spiritual care to the most vulnerable.

Program examples include:

– The Pittsfield, Massachusetts Salvation Army first opened as a warming shelter this month, extending their hours and offering hot chicken noodle soup all day. They continue to serve free brunch every weekday at 10:30am.
– The Salvation Army in Denver is distributing blankets and gloves to those experiencing homelessness and are encouraging people to stay in its shelters.
– In Stevens Point, Wisconsin, The Salvation Army is opening their lobby area during the day with places to sit and coffee available. At night, individuals can head over to the Warming Center to sleep.
– The Corpus Christi, Texas Salvation Army is working closely with other local organizations to open the Mother Theresa Shelter as a warming center for the homeless population.

The Salvation Army has adapted services in light of the pandemic to include extra precautions, such as social distancing at food distribution sites, innovative feeding models, and personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements everywhere.

Since March 2020, The Salvation Army has provided more than 300 million meals and hundreds of millions of dollars in utility, rent, and mortgage assistance to America’s most vulnerable.

For more information on how The Salvation Army helps Hope March On, visit salvationarmyusa.org.