Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
The Salvation Army on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 221
The Salvation Army's 360 Life Center in Manhattan, Kansas, represents a groundbreaking approach to community service as the first rural pilot program of its kind in the United States. Director Susan Evans and volunteer Carla Johnson share how they've expanded from helping 25-30 people monthly to over 1,000 by identifying and filling service gaps through collaborative partnerships.
• The 360 Life Center approach allows flexibility to address any area of need without time limits
• Operation Street Outreach helps those living on the streets with immediate necessities and connections to services
• Center works collaboratively with numerous local organizations to avoid service duplication
• Special focus on helping those who fall between the cracks of traditional assistance programs
• Transformed froma traditional thrift store to providing free donations to those in need
• Created an outdoor garden and hydration station accessible 24/7 during extreme weather
• Specific support for women, families, and individuals with criminal or addiction histories
• Veteran support services, particularly for women veterans
If you'd like to help, the Salvation Army currently needs water, Gatorade, tents, sleeping bags, and blankets. Drop off Tuesday-Friday 10-3 or Saturday 3-10 pm at 310 Poyntz, or call for pickup arrangements.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour as heard on NewsRadio KMAN, and we are back, segment number three on the GMCF Community Hour, and we're going to go back to Manhattan where our next guests are. They are with Salvation Army. We have the director, susan Evans, joining us. Good morning, susan.
Speaker 2:Good morning.
Speaker 1:It's a delight to have you here, and also Carla Johnson is in, and I think a lot of people will remember Carla. Whenever you see a bell ringer, she's the one that sparkles and smiles. Hello Carla, how are you?
Speaker 3:Good morning. Doing great.
Speaker 1:Good good. You represent Salvation Army. Well, Do you have purple in your hair? Is your hair purple today?
Speaker 3:Yes, that's been for quite a while.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we kind of trade that way, don't we? Yes, yeah, you do, you do. Well, it's a delight to have you on and you know, we kind of trade that way, don't we?
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, you do, you do. Well, it's a delight to have you on. And you know, we kind of we're kind of going into this a little bit blind because we had a little switch in our calendars here for the day and we just want to talk a little bit about Salvation Army and Carla, why don't I'm sorry Susan why don't you just kind of start and talk about the mission of Salvation Army here locally?
Speaker 2:Okay, our mission locally and we're a little different than the other Salvation Armies because we did start out a pilot program. When I came three years ago. It was this 360 Life Center, which is not a Corps, which are the big buildings that you see in the cities. We're the first one in the United States that was chosen to develop a program for what was considered a rural area and in with that ours is a little bit different, but the main mission is the same that we help people wherever they need it the most and wherever we can, with no discrimination, and it's 360. Part of it is we try to help in any area of your life and with that we work in cooperation with the wonderful, wonderful, um, other non-profit agencies here in town and since we have started this, when I first took it over we were helping about 25 to 30. I checked the records a month as far as financially or other ways. We're up to over a thousand a month now.
Speaker 1:So goodness what do you uh, what do you think? Causes that that increase?
Speaker 2:uh, the fact that we have changed the way we do things as a 360 center. By doing that, it gave me the liberty to go to the different agencies, to go to the churches, to go to the government and see what wasn't being done in Manhattan and talking to the other agencies and seeing what needs aren't being met, because we don't want to duplicate. You know, we have a lot of agencies doing excellent, excellent things in here that we have partnerships with like, be able and um, shepherds crossing and others, catholic charities and different churches and different other organizations like the guardians and all those that work very closely with us, common table and with that um, we see how we can fill in the gaps and meet things they can't do because the limitations of their grants or in what they do. So that allows us to have more people come in. And one of the things that we have started well, we started it actually two and a half years ago Operation Street Outreach. We have started Operation Street Outreach and the reason is the first week I was here I had somebody come into my office and they sat at my desk and they were talking and it was a wonderful older gentleman older I'm probably older than he is.
Speaker 2:Anyway, older gentleman who was sitting talking about, he'd worked in construction his whole life. He had gotten sick because it's a week-to-week job. He missed insurance payments and he was behind on his rent and everything and he just needed help. So of course we were able to put him to the Manhattan Free Clinic, referring to there with Rick Hernandez, and then we started helping him with his rent and while he was there he passed out at my table, at my desk. So here we are and I'm looking at him and I got, you know, we got him around and thank goodness I have here someone who was a nurse in guyana, and so miss sharon came over and she helped us and we got to talking to him and he hadn't eaten in two weeks because of his back, two weeks because of his background. Um, he didn't. His income that he had for his last month was higher than what's allowable.
Speaker 3:For food stamps.
Speaker 2:For food stamps and for other things, and so one of the things we realized that there were people who were in need. That fell through the cracks. We had one lady who be able had helped her. She had a van and they gave her a place for her van. But here was a 73-year-old lady who had lived in a van for seven years and so working with Be Able and with us. First we got her into an apartment, we helped, kept her in food and she came over here and volunteered, kept her busy. But after it took us a year and a half but we got her moved to Wichita with family members where she was able to be cared for and stuff.
Speaker 2:So we don't do just a short period. We don't have a time limit. Whatever is necessary, we will be there for you. And because of that we started Operation Street Outreach, which now it started the first year, where we would go around just Saturday nights usually, but people the word got out and Saturday nights late we would go up and down the streets. We have a team who have been homeless themselves, who have been trained and all this and gone through safety precautions, but they go out on the street and they will bring people in. We will feed them, we make sure they have sleeping bags, all these types of things. We work now with the Center of Hope and Angela and the ministry there, because we have a lot of veterans or people who have mental challenges. That being in a room with other people is impossible, so we also supply tents and so we take care of those who choose at this time to live in the street and those who want to get off. We work with the other agencies to help get them into housing as soon as we can.
Speaker 1:so we, yeah, go ahead I think that's one of the things I love most about. You know the work that we do at the community foundation. Within you know, the city itself is all the collaborative efforts.
Speaker 1:You know we want cracks for people to be, uh, able to fall through, and you know the more that we can fill in those cracks along the way, and you know, and you, you ran through a list what 10, 12 different organizations and to have a collaborative effort of everybody that can just come through and help those that are in need. I think that says a lot about the character of the community.
Speaker 2:We agree 100%. One of the things we found out is that a lot of the housing that's available within our city is male oriented. Or if you have a history, a criminal history or an addiction history, or as a woman or with children, you have to be in a crisis situation, meaning police, called safety of health and things like this. To be in a crisis situation meaning police called safety of health and things like this. So one of the things to get more housing available we have taken on.
Speaker 2:We no longer have a thrift store, but we still take all the donations. We give them for free to those who need it. But because we have enlarged that all run by volunteers is the fact that the crisis center has now been able to free up rooms for more. Where they used to keep clothing they're all referred to us and with that they're having more room available for people. We also, when ponte mental health started the transitional housing, deb Nuss, through her programs, donated us furniture and we in turn came and when they needed furniture we were able to help get the furniture all needed and the beds for a lot of the Oxford houses in town, plus Pawnee Mental transitional housing. So once again, it's indirectly but directly helping set up the needs of our people.
Speaker 1:How do you find the people that are in need?
Speaker 2:We have developed through the people we serve Word of mouth, it has become word of mouth and through the churches that were at common table that now work, you know, all together at the educational center. They know, uh, but we do have people who go through the streets at night. Uh, I have one gentleman in particular. He came in as a client three years ago, um, but now he heads up the program of Operation Street Outreach and we were just talking this morning because he was so excited 7 o'clock in the morning and he's excited about what happened last night. But he goes and goes to places where he knows they hang out. He knows, like the safe places, whether it be in parking garage, stairways or which tunnels or wherever that they try to hang out in, or when it's hot in the public, he goes, he talks. If they don't have basic needs or anything like that, he brings them back here because he's had all the training too. He brings them back here, he makes sure they're fed, they have hygiene needs met, they have all this water, um, anything that we have for to keep the basic needs. So he and others go out and this spreads by word of mouth.
Speaker 2:I came in this morning and there were two people already setting in our back patio uh, one of the things I did which used to be a place where garbage was put and people parked in the back of one of our buildings. We made that into an outdoor garden. With the outdoor garden, we have fresh produce available for them, everything like this, but right next to it we have made a seating area where they can come, and there's umbrella over it, there's chairs, but, like right now, when it's so hot, we keep a cooler back there all the time, anytime, day or night, full of water, gatorade, things like this, so that they we know they will be, so that we know they will be hydrated, we know they will be taken care of.
Speaker 1:Carla, what's your role? In all this.
Speaker 3:I'm a disabled veteran so I try to help connect veterans also. Help connect veterans also and if any veterans come in that need um help with filing for disability or any other services, I try to help them, direct them to any other help. Specifically, women veterans and I've been doing um trying to help with fundraising and I volunteer, kind of doing everything, doing whatever Susan wants me to do, pretty much.
Speaker 1:Well, bless your heart for doing that. Of course, you know and I may have mentioned this earlier about you know seeing you so often in so many different places. When it comes, you know holiday time because you are you're like the CEO of bell ringers. I agree, Bell ringer, you are the salvation army bell ringer mascot and you're always sparkling. I think that that's one of the things I love about you. Whether it's the shoes or the hat or whatever it is, you know, you always sparkle and and it just seems like you always try to bring some joy, uh, to the world.
Speaker 3:I love it. It's fun if you can't have fun doing it, yeah and I've done it a few times myself.
Speaker 1:You know, and and, uh, probably have to, you know we'll have to talk about trying to get me out and do it again here this year.
Speaker 3:So yeah, yeah, you, you come along and join me one ship.
Speaker 1:It's always a lot of fun.
Speaker 3:I challenge you to come join me. One ship, do you think?
Speaker 1:you can handle me for one ship. Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, yeah, I had another radio personality.
Speaker 3:join me a couple times. I think you could do it Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay. Well, we're about out of time here, ladies. Anything we could do, Susan, that you'd like to share with our listeners about how they can help All?
Speaker 2:right Right now, one of our biggest needs because of the heat, because we also have a food bar. We serve meals every day too, that we're open noon meals to those on the street and they come in. Last Friday we had 40. But with that is honestly, honestly water, gatorade and if you can go through any of your old camping stuff we still need tents, we still need sleeping bags we go through quite a few of those and blankets and those type of things. It's just to try to keep people as warm and safe and hydrated as possible during this time.
Speaker 1:So we can always get those to you, and we can always get those to you.
Speaker 2:You never know whether you're going to have 100 people walk through your door, you know, in a couple hours or 15. So we can always find something for anybody to do.
Speaker 1:How do people get these goods to you?
Speaker 2:We are open Tuesday through Friday from 10 to 3. And Saturdays from 3 to about well now, because we're in the warming season from 3 to 10 in the evening. So they're welcome to drop a bye. And also you can call and they will give you my personal cell phone number. I have it posted all over Facebook, everywhere it's on my business cards, and you can call me and I will come meet you.
Speaker 1:All right. Hey, carla thanks for coming in and bringing some sparkle to the show. Susan, it's always great to to hear from you. 310 points is that what you were trying to get in edgewise to bunk smite?
Speaker 3:that's the address that's handy to know.
Speaker 1:310 points. All right, sounds good, ladies. Hey, thanks, appreciate you coming in joining us for for the GMCF community hour today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 1:We're going to go to Calgary here next Vern's going to come back and we'll talk about some things that are coming up in the near future here on the GMCF community hour on news radio K M a N.