An opportunity for hope
Salvation army breaks ground on new corps community center
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love and break up your unplowed ground for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”
Quoting Hosea 10:12 from the Holy Bible, Major David Yardley from the Salvation Army Southwest Divisional Headquarters read the scripture aloud for a very special occasion: the groundbreaking ceremony for the Salvation Army’s new corps community center in Yuma.
On Tuesday morning, Salvation Army leadership, advisory board members and dignitaries from the City of Yuma gathered at the site, 445 S. 4th Ave., just across Fourth Avenue Junior High School, to celebrate what they consider an opportunity for hope – something the Salvation
Army prides itself in having brought to Yuma County since 1956.
“This project is going to be our corps, which in the Salvation Army, that’s basically a church,” said Lt. Johnathan Herzog, who’s been appointed to the project with his wife, Lt. Amber Herzog. “But it’s not just a meet-on-Sunday kind of place. It’s a community center where we provide folks in the community who are struggling – whether that’s financially or spiritually and just even with their health – an opportunity or an outlet to come and receive; you know, whether that’s a food box, prayer, even Christian counseling. It’s literally just a place of hope.”
Amber Herzog added that they’re really excited about the versatile format of the building. The corps community center will be able to be rearranged as needed – be it for sit-down meals or church services.
“We’ll be able to provide case management for social services, pastoral counseling and just kind of meet the needs where they’re at,” she said.
Although supply-chain issues could slow down the process, the Salvation Army is hoping to see the center up and running within a year. Johnathan and Amber will lead church meetings on Sundays, but throughout the week, the center serves a wider scope of purpose. As they put it, everything the Salvation Army does is motivated by the love of Jesus and they plan on meeting human needs without discrimination.
“[The center] is designed to ramp up our ability to feed the hungry through our mobile feeding program, assist with emergency food boxes and will include a dining facility and commercial kitchen for hot meals,” said Amber and Johnathan Herzog. “We will continue to provide rent and utilities assistance on a case-by-case basis. This location will now serve as the entry point for veterans to attain help through the Yuma Veterans Recoverable Loan Project. Additionally, we’ll have the ability to quickly transform the center into a shelter and be a greater community asset in the event of disaster. Our goal is for this center to meet the ever-changing needs of the local Yuma community while holistically encouraging our clients to take the next steps in their journey to self-sufficiency.”
Although some of the funding they receive comes from grants with criteria for usage, the Herzogs noted that as a faith-based nonprofit organization, they also receive donations and funds that can be used at their discretion. One recent example of this was when they were able to attain lodging for one of the families who lost their trailer to a fire. And even if particular help can’t be provided, they’ll help point people in the right direction to make sure they can get the assistance they need.
“We’re so blessed by the donors in this community [who] allow us to do certain things; grants allow us to do certain things,” said Amber Herzog. “And when we can’t meet those needs because they don’t fit certain requirements, we do strive for other options that might be able to assist them better. Because really, when we find the best fit for that family, that’s what’s gonna get them on the best path towards self-sufficiency. One of our programs that we’re launching this year is Pathway of Hope, and that’s basically goal-based case management where they’re in charge of saying, ‘Well, these are my goals for improving our lives,’ and we just kind of walk alongside them and say, ‘Okay, well, maybe try this. Maybe go to this agency and here’s what we can do’ and work with them.”
Salvation Army Southwest Divisional Commander Lt. Col. Ivan Wild explained that the Salvation Army in Yuma has been out of a building for a few years and has been leasing instead, but the Southwest Divisional Headquarters has had plans for a permanent place for a while.
“We really felt it was necessary to have a permanent place that we can build from what’s already being done,” Wild said. “This land became available a couple of years ago just prior to COVID. It was purchased with the hopes of a building then we went into COVID … And so we were looking–‘Okay, how are we going to continue to do this?’ Obviously, prices and construction costs have just skyrocketed recently. And so with all those factors, we had to really take a look at how we can raise the funds to do this.
“What happened is the Yuma community has been very great supporters of Salvation Army, and so we’ve been collecting donations from them. But from our headquarters, we decided we really want to invest in Yuma; we want to make sure the Salvation Army has a permanent home. And so we then pledged to pay for half the project. We committed from our reserves of savings half the cost of this project so that we can have a firm footing here in Yuma and really scope up our services.”
Leslie McClendon, deputy mayor for the City of Yuma, feels that the center will be a major benefit for Yuma as the city serves as a transition space for those passing through between California and other surrounding regions.
“The opportunity that we have here at the city and the location that they’re out here on Fourth Avenue is huge for us,” she said. “When you take a look around the schools here, it gives opportunities for students to see the value of volunteering, opportunities to see what’s great in our community and how we can grow to be better people … We’re gonna see a lot of new things coming from the Salvation Army; they’ve been a blessing for us in the community. And I know a lot of people enjoy being able to help. When you think about the Salvation Army, they’re not really just a thrift shop or what they said earlier with just ringing the bells. They’re in our community, they’re invested and we really appreciate that.”
To learn more about the Salvation Army, visit https://yuma.salvationarmy.org/yuma_corps/.