The Salvation Army offers hotline to deal with stress of coronavirus
The Salvation Army has launched a nationwide hotline to provide “emotional support and spiritual care” to people in distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hotline, 844-458-HOPE, has English and Spanish speaking Salvation Army officers available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
According to a news release, the nonlocal officers available are pastors and emotional-care personnel who are “there to listen.”
Salvation Army of Hot Springs Captain Bradley Hargis said the hotline is for anyone in need, no matter what spiritual background they come from.
“It’s really going to be driven by the person calling; it’s not going to be driven by the person on the other side,” Hargis said. “… It’s for anyone who has anxiety or stress or maybe just somebody who needs someone to talk to. I know that there’s a lot of people struggling with possibly loss of business or who are about to file bankruptcy, or all kinds of things.”
He said the purpose of their organization is to “meet human needs in Jesus’ name, without discrimination,” which he noted qualifies the hotline for anyone who needs “a good, encouraging word, as well as some hope in these days.”
Another reason the hotline was created, Hargis said, is to comfort anxious people separated from loved ones due to a coronavirus infection or to prevent one.
“We do, unfortunately, hear a lot of those stories,” he said. “… I think that has been the most difficult thing for people during this time; not even the loss of work or money or other things, it’s been really the loss of relationship. … So this was just created to dialogue about that and pray about that and to be encouraged, as it is difficult in these days to find that.”
When the hotline launched approximately three weeks ago, Hargis said it did better than he anticipated.
“When (The Salvation Army) did this it only did it for
our territory, which is about a 15-state area, and they were having so many people call in and thought ‘Well we might as well open this nationally’ just because they received such good feedback on it,” he said. “A lot of people really liked it and said they enjoyed having someone they could talk to.”
According to the release, if someone calls the hotline after operating hours, they are encouraged to leave a message so an officer can return the call.