Celebrate Fayetteville: Exploring the Greater Fayetteville Region

The mission of the Salvation Army, located
on East Russell Street in Fayetteville, is to work
every day to meet the spiritual, physical and
emotional needs of those who are struggling.
The Salvation Army is widely known for
taking collections at stores for Christmas. The
donations that the Salvation Army receives during
the Christmas season are used to provide
Christmas gifts to children and families in need,
who may be experiencing a financial hardship,
unemployment, divorce or homelessness.
The Salvation Army has close relationships
with many nonprofits in the area. The
Salvation Army is also a United Way agency.
The Army also holds worship services at its
location on East Russell Street on Sunday
mornings, and during the summer, holds
vacation bible school for youth.
The Salvation Army serves the community
through a variety of programs and initiatives
that include:
• League of Mercy: This program visits local
hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions,
which impacts hundreds of people.
During the Christmas season, visits increase
and gifts are distributed. For patients who
are alone and shut-in and for prisoners who
are locked away, the League of Mercy offers
a beacon of light to the outside, which eases
the suffering at least for a while.
• Christmas Program: The Salvation Army
Christmas Program is designed so that every
child, the young, the old, those in nursing
homes and those in correctional institutions
have a gift during the Christmas season.
Through collaboration of agencies and
the generosity of the community, programs,
including the Angel Tree program, Christmas
Kettles and the Bill Shaw Fund through the
Fayetteville Observer, allow the whole community
to participate in sharing Christmas
with others.
• Emergency Shelter: The Salvation Army’s
Shelter in Fayetteville can assist up to
seventy-five people per night, giving
temporary shelter and counseling to those
in need. Through the shelter, the Salvation
Army is reaching out to people like Arthur,
a shelter resident, who said, “I prayed
for God to take my life because of my
addiction, but instead he guided me to the
Salvation Army. The Army helped put God
back into my life and taught me how to
develop relationships with people I didn’t
think I could be close with.”
• Emergency Services & Disaster Relief:
The Salvation Army Emergency Services
Department helps by distributing emergency
funding through an energy
rebate program and utility funds for
crisis situations. When major disasters
strike, they can affect thousands
of people at one time while small
disasters may not be as publicized,
but are equally devastating to those
involved. The Salvation Army creates
a comfort zone that surrounds the
disaster site, assisting victims and
emergency workers. On call, there
are a fleet of vehicles ready to
mobilize to the site, including a selfgenerated
mobile feeding canteen
supplied with food, clothing,
blankets and medical supplies.
• Step-Up Semi Independent Living:
This program was created to help homeless
men reduce their public dependency while
helping them to succeed in personal goals. It
provides counseling, classes, life skills training
and helps them obtain necessary lodging
until they can become self-sufficient.
• Care Program: To help abused women and
their families get out of serious situations.
The program provides a safe environment
to get them back on their feet through
counseling, classes, life skills training and
helps obtain necessary lodging until they
can become self-sufficient. This assistance
lasts one year per family.
• Community Center: The Salvation Army
Community Center emphasizes positive,
healthy experiences for at-risk youth. The
Community Center provides after-school
care for many low income residents.
Resources available to children in our
community include a gym, recreation area
and computer lab equipped with high
speed internet service. This program also
runs the Kids 2 Kamp summer program.
For more information on The Salvation
Army or information on how you can help,
please visit www.salvationarmyfayetteville.org.
SALVATION ARMY
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Above and below: Staff and community
members we serve.
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