Salvation Army begins long-anticipated expansion
HOUSING | Patrick Yeagle
As the early winter wind swirls snow across the parking lot at 100 N. Ninth St. in Springfield, a volunteer works the phones inside, coordinating the Salvation Army’s team of bell ringers. The building is mostly empty now, but it will soon be bustling with activity as construction crews turn it into a new homeless shelter.
The project will greatly expand the Salvation Army’s presence in Springfield, doubling their homeless capacity and fulfilling a critical need for services.
“It’s going to give us an opportunity to make the next step to help people along their way,” says Maj. Steve Woodard, corps administrator for the Salvation Army in Springfield.
The group bought the building at 100 N. Ninth St. in 2009 and raised nearly $4 million to renovate it. Funding came from a $1.2 million state grant, about $1 million in TIF funds from the Downtown Springfield TIF district and donations from individuals and businesses in Springfield. In the past, the location was home to a Greyhound bus terminal, the now-defunct Eisner Foods bakery and most recently office space for Horace Mann Insurance.
Once the project is complete, the Salvation Army will have 36 new beds for homeless people, supplementing their existing 36 beds at 530 N. Sixth St. The new building will also house a dining hall and kitchen, a health clinic, a food pantry, offices and meeting space for support groups. Woodard says the kitchen at the existing building is only about 10 feet by 12 feet, so the extra space will allow the group to serve meals to more people in need, while also storing more food in the expanded pantry.
“I think the potential of serving more people and helping more people is a great thing the Salvation Army is looking forward to in this new facility,” Woodard said.
Woodard says his organization is currently evaluating bids for the project, and construction is expected to start in February 2015. Although the full project likely will be finished a year later in February 2016, Woodard hopes to use portions of the first floor as they are finished. The second and third floors may be utilized later, but the current project does not include them.
If the Salvation Army can raise enough funds to also renovate the two remaining floors, Woodard would like to see a family shelter on the second floor, along with space for a youth outreach program.
“Right now, if mom and dad come into town with kids, there’s no place for them to go,” Woodard said.
Most shelters in Springfield don’t accept families, Woodard says.
“Families have a hard enough time right now without having a structure where we have to split them up,” he said. “We would like to provide four family units on the second floor so we can keep mom and dad and the kids – that family structure – together.”
On the third floor, Woodard hopes to see efficiency apartments built to meet the need for transitional housing in Springfield. He says the Salvation Army often works with homeless veterans who need affordable housing, for example.
“The sky’s the limit, and there’s a lot of things we’d like to see from phase two and phase three,” he said.
Woodard says the expanded shelter brings Springfield closer to providing enough rooms for the city’s entire homeless population, though he adds that building trust is the first step.
“Sometimes, people don’t believe that they have a voice, and they miss that,” he said. “We don’t know the story, but they might be able to share it with us, and we might be able to help them along the way. By doing so, we have a voice for them, to let them know they’ve not been forgotten. God hasn’t forgotten them, and we haven’t, either.”
For an online video tour of the Salvation Army’s new building, visit bit.ly/sabuild.
Contact Patrick Yeagle at [email protected].