Larry Hostetler, director for the Jefferson County Salvation Army, said he had an experience in December that convinced him that the organization needs to do a better job of letting people know about the services it offers.
He said one day last month a woman dropped by the Salvation Army’s worship and community center at 3740 Telegraph Road looking for help because she had just lost her job.
The woman didn’t intend to visit the Salvation Army and instead happened upon the location after missing an exit on her way home.
Hostetler said the woman was driving south on I-270 to go home and missed the interchange to get onto I-55 because of everything that was on her mind. She ended up exiting the interstate at Telegraph Road instead, noticed the Salvation Army building and decided to stop and see if the organization could help her.
“She didn’t know we were here and didn’t know what we could do to help,” Hostetler said. “She just drove by. There are a lot of people who don’t know we are around, especially when you get outside of Arnold.”
He said the Salvation Army worked with the woman to set up a utility payment plan to help relieve some of her family’s financial burden. She also was given food, and after she first declined an offering of toys to give her children for Christmas, she returned a week later to pick up some.
“There is an awareness that we are here, and while there is name recognition, program recognition is horrible,” Hostetler said.
“We help people in need, and that is all people know about us. They don’t know what we do or how we do it.”
Services
Hostetler said the Salvation Army offers a wide variety of services, from providing those in need with food during weekly food pantry events, financial assistance for living costs and programs to help people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Unfortunately, he said, a lot of people are not aware of these programs and don’t reach out for help.
“Part of that is because organizations like the Arnold Food Pantry and De Soto Food Pantry, you know what they do,” Hostetler said. “Their names tell you what they do. When the name is obvious to what the services are, it is easier for people to know to go there.
“We do food. We do homeless services. We do utility assistance. We do a variety of things. We are a safety net that if no one else can do something, we may be able to help if we have the funds. We don’t have restrictions like food pantries may have with how we can help.”
The Salvation Army’s food pantry is open from 9:30-11:30 a.m. every Wednesday, and a drive-thru mobile mart is held at the pantry from 8-9 a.m. on the first Thursday of every month, Hostetler said.
He said there has been an increased use at the mobile marts in recent months.
“In November, we gave out food to more than 600 people,” Hostetler said. “The same thing happened in December. We had never given out that much during any mobile mart until November. We served 25 percent more people in December (2022) with the mobile mart than it did in January (2022). The need is growing.”
Hostetler said one of the reasons people don’t know that the Salvation Army can help people who are homeless or on the verge of homelessness is because there is no homeless shelter in Jefferson County.
“Because there is not a homeless shelter in Jefferson County, there is not a great awareness in the county of who can help and who has resources to help. That is an issue,” he said. “It is the nature of the beast. You have to make people aware of it, and the Salvation Army has not been good at doing that or being part of groups trying to make people aware.”
Hostetler said the Salvation Army also needs to let county residents and groups know they can be used for events or meetings.
He said the organization typically charges about $25 an hour to use the building, which covers the cost of having it open.
“People are surprised by what we have in our building,” Hostetler said. “We have meeting spaces for groups and a gymnasium. We have more space than it looks like we have. We need to use the building more. We are wasting the building.
“We want to be an active member of the community. It is not just serving people in need. It is also providing spaces for people to use.”
The Salvation Army also holds worship services on Sundays and Mondays.
Solutions
Hostetler said the Salvation Army will work to better use media outlets to let people know what services are available to help people in need.
“When the Leader did the story about bell ringers (the Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle collection campaign during the holiday season), we had people calling and saying they saw the story and how can I ring,” he said.
“I have discovered the Leader is the best way to get the word out.”
Hostetler also said the organization will try to better use social media, especially its Facebook page.
“We have been encouraging our board members and volunteers to share posts from our Facebook page,” he said. “That is part of getting the word out.”
Another solution is simply updating the sign outside the Salvation Army’s location in Arnold.
“It is woeful, and not everyone recognizes that it is the Salvation Army,” Hostetler said of the sign. “Everybody knows the Salvation Army shield, but they don’t know we are here because we don’t have the Salvation Army shield visible from our building.
“We have to let people know in every way possible what we are doing and that we are here to help.”