We are in the early stages of launching our $3 million capital campaign. Our aim is to completely remodel and add showers an laundry for the homeless. See a complete description of the remodel below.
Our capital campaign manager is Tina Bennett-Boewe. We are getting ready to form our steering committee. The campaign will take about 18 months.
Sally’s Camp is now closed. We served 46 families, including 16 couples without children. KCR was able to place 14 of those families into permanent housing.
It was a shelter for homeless families and couples. It opened on February 8 and closed on June 30 due to the lease agreement and the cost of operations. It was located at 900 Pacific Ave. (the former municipal courthouse). All residents had to be screened and recommended by Kitsap Community Resources, which provided case management. Each family was required to develop a plan to get into permanent housing.
It could house up to 11 families. Our philiosphy was that we will expected them to take as much reponsibility for their own advancement as possible. Therefore, we would not provide them with meals or allow outside groups to do so. Instead, we provided them with ways to prepare their own meals or partake of meals provided outside the shelter (such as our free breakfasts and lunches on 6th St.) In addition, each family was assigned a housekeeping duty (vacuuming, taking out trash, etc.)
If you are interested in knowing more, please contact Greg at The Salvation Army at (360) 373-5550.
If you want to donate for disaster relief, you can now do so in several ways:
1. You can mail in your check to P. O. Box 886, Bremerton, WA 98337. Write the specific diaster you are sending relief for.
2. You can now text in a donation! Just text the word “give” to 80888 and a $10 charge will appear on your next month’s telephone bill.
3. You can call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769) and make a credit card donation.
Our food bank is always in need of basic food supplies and toiletries (listed below). You may drop them off at 832 6th St. any weekday between 8am and 4pm.
canned vegetables, fruits and meats
pasta and rice
soups
dry and hot cereal
spaghetti sauce
juices
diapers (especially larger sizes)
toilet paper
shampoo
We are planning a total remodel of The Salvation Army buildings. If all goes as planned, we will completely remodel our main building and make it our social services center which we will call Sally’s Place. We will have our meals, food bank, hygiene center and administrative offices all located in it. We plan to tear down our building next door (the old Milt’s Donuts) and build a new building in its place that will become our church. It will have a basement for storage and distribution.
We hope to have all remodeling and construction completed by early in 2011.
The May/June edition of the homeless newsletter by Sally Santana is now available. Sally is always glad to receive ideas for news stories and other information for the newsletter. You can post those here or send them to her directly. She will also pay $20 to any person who is willing to tell their story. Payment will be made if the story is published in the newsletter.
You can pick up your copy at The Salvation Army, most social services agencies and any food bank in the county. Or you can go to http://pugetsoundblogs.com/side-street-news/
“Breakfast at Sally’s” author Richard LeMieux is currently writing a children’s book about his beloved dog Willow, who died of cancer on Nov. 21, 2009.
“Breakfast at Sally’s” continues to be a hot seller. Richard is in great demand as a speaker on the topic of homelessness. You can reach him at home at (360) 698-5743.
The book is for sale in our office for $15. We are located at 832 6th St. in downtown Bremerton, near the corner of 6th and Warren. We are open every weekday from 8am to 4pm.
Richard’s friend Tina Bennett has created a beautiful pendant in the shape of a traditional Japanese house, accompanied by the motto “Everyone Deserves a Home.” It is for sale for $38 and $65. Tina is the chair of the Willow Charitable Foundation, which raises money for homeless causes.
She has also written a song based on a chapter in Richard’s book. Several others have been inspired to do the same. If enough songs about the homeless are written by local artists, we will try to make an “Album For the Homeless.”
You are encouraged to visit the website “breakfastatsallys.com.” You can find his speaking schedule as well as a way to request him as a speaker. There is also a copy of the first chapter of the book and other information.
