Where Do We Turn To Now?
This month (July), programs for people who are homeless in San Francisco are going to be hit hard. State and city budget cuts require many of our local social service departments to cut back. Consequently, we see staff laid off, drop-in services cancelled, and mental health departments at various clinics closed down.
With Gavin Newsom’s “Care Not Cash” initiative first stopped by court order and now being appealed, who can tell what exactly is going to happen next? During this storm of inquiries, debates, and initiatives, there are various non-profit and faith-based community groups that continue their social services to homeless people as usual. Many of them will also be affected by city government cutbacks, and ultimately our communities will be the ones to suffer.
The Salvation Army is a faith-based organization that is not affected by San Francisco city funding or lack of funding. The Salvation Army in San Francisco goes it alone, without the city’s assistance since San Francisco’s implementation of domestic partnership rulings. The Salvation Army does not agree with the San Francisco city government requirements concerning people living together while unmarried. The Salvation Army will not condone pre-marital sex, regardless of whom is having it. Domestic partnerships are based upon people co-habitating without the legal document of marriage. This conflicts with the Salvation Army’s doctrines. These doctrines derive from the Salvation Army’s interpretation of the Bible.
The Salvation Army’s mission statement: The Salvation Army, an international religious & charitable movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God and a practical concern for the needs of humanity. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, supply basic human necessities, and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
The Salvation Army’s mission statement tells us that their primary motivation is a practical concern for the needs of humanity and they dispense treatment and services to anyone, regardless of race, color, creed, sex, or age. In addition, regardless of whether you are co-habitating or have no habitat at all.
In 2001, President Bush signed an Executive Order on Equal Treatment for Charities and announced new agency actions eliminating discriminatory practices against faith-based and community groups. Quoting the President’s comments at the White House in December 2002, the President said that he is “strongly committed to helping Americans in need by reaching out to and expanding the role of faith-based and community organizations”. President Bush also said he “…envisions an America where people in need are served by people who care…
To achieve this goal, the President believes the Federal government can remove barriers that prevent faith-based and grassroots groups from doing more to help Americans in need.” We have not yet seen any barriers removed or any increases in aid to said groups, not on a federal level anyway.
The President states, “They deserve the support of the rest of us. They deserve the support of the foundations. They deserve the support of corporate America. They deserve the support of individual donors, of church organizations, of synagogues and mosques. And then deserve, when appropriate, the support of the federal government.” What does the President mean by ‘when appropriate’? If we as individual donors or as other religious groups are supporting them with our time and money, what ‘appropriate’ actions will get our government to support them and give them what they deserve as well?
If President Bush can acknowledge the lack of resources and how much these faith-based services deserve help from many directions, why are these groups having so much trouble getting funding from our government? Our community needs to consider more local support for the faith-based services. Perhaps we should have a little faith in these types of organizations ourselves, especially at the community level where they affect us and help us the most.
Many of these services work primarily from volunteers who come directly from our community and help to keep their services going. These services would collapse if they did not have volunteers to help them.
A group of approximately 30 religious leaders have serious doubts that the President will back up what he is saying. Recently they sent a letter to the President asking this question, “How can he square his fine talk about the poor with the priorities of his budgets?” According to Rev. Jim Wallis, one of the signers, many in their ranks have supported the President’s faithbased initiatives from the beginning of his administration. However, after another eloquent speech about “good people”, the signers offered their thoughts:
“Mr. President, ‘the good people’ who provide such services are feeling overwhelmed by increasing need and diminished resources. And many are feeling betrayed. The lack of consistent, coherent and integrated domestic policy that benefits low-income people makes our continued support for your faith-based initiative increasingly untenable. Mr. President, the poor are suffering, and without serious changes in the policies of your administration, they will suffer more.”
In a release from the White House, the Office of the Press Secretary states “…that a Social Service Program means a program that is administered by the federal government, or by a state or local government using federal financial assistance, and that provides services directed at reducing poverty, improving opportunities for low-income children, revitalizing low-income communities, empowering low-income families and low-income individuals to become self-sufficient, or otherwise helping people in need.” The Salvation Army fits this description at the Federal level but not at the San Francisco city level. At the local level, this social service program is without a city government level of administration or funding and therefore does not need to be responsible to certain city government requirements. However, this still can impede the good work that the Salvation Army here in San Francisco can achieve.
E.J. Dionne stated in his recent San Francisco Chronicle article, “Religious groups will never have the money to transform the material conditions of the poor. But relatively modest government outlays could make their lives much better.”
The Salvation Army’s work is guided by their moral principles and company standards and still they manage to cover all the same issues as our federal social service agencies.
If our economy continues in the direction it is headed will this following statement continue to be true? “Faith-based groups will never replace government when it comes to helping those in need.” Wallis, the convener and president of the Washington-based Call to Renewal, an association of religious groups concerned about poverty, sees a disconnect when government “is cutting resources to the poor while cutting taxes on the rich” and then asks faith-based groups to pick up the slack. “You’re asking us to substitute for good public policy.”
The fact remains, no matter what their beliefs are, the Salvation Army’s actions say more. They treat all clients equally; they do not deny services to anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, housing status, religious preference, or lifestyle. They invite all people to enter and participate in their church and they do not discriminate in the workplace. Obviously, they do not care if a person is gay or not, if that person rents, owns or has no shelter. When people are in need that is what the Salvation Army sees and tries to address.
The Salvation Army San Francisco Turk Street Central Corps is right down the street from the Coalition on Homelessness office. They are proactive in their fight for people in need. Open from 8am to 5pm, the social service department works with people who walk in off the streets daily.
Bridget Flores, Family Counselor at the Salvation Army SF Turk St Central Corps, says, “If someone comes into an intake session and is hungry, I will immediately open a can of soup for them. I hand out hygiene kits regularly. If they need blankets or clothing, they are available. We also offer emergency food boxes once a month.” Bridget intends to advocate for each and every person who comes to the Salvation Army for help. To obtain this help a person needs valid ID and social security card, as well as one for each family member they want to include for services. The SA at Turk Street allows use of the telephone for local calls for their clients. Bridget has a connection with the Hospitality House, which is right around the corner, for immediate shelter needs on a daily basis, its first come, first serve. She is able to give out clothing and furniture vouchers. As Bridget’s resources expand, she continually works with clients to help them with shelter and food, first in an immediate way and eventually to find a permanent solution. An increase in funding could definitely help with expanding these resources to include more follow up and subsequently ensure solutions that are more permanent to people experiencing homelessness.
Monday thru Friday, the Salvation Army serves the senior population hot lunch. Any walkins are always accepted, no matter their age. All one has to do is stand in line around 11am and bring a valid ID; everyone will be taken care of by a team of friendly volunteers. Each Friday there is Food Pantry distribution that runs similarly to lunch. The only qualifications are valid ID and wait your turn. All food distributed comes from donations and almost all staff that help with senior lunches and food pantry consist of volunteers. Another new program started at Turk Street Central Corps a month ago. Agroup of volunteers go out to distribute sandwiches and drinks to anyone just ‘hanging around’ the Tenderloin area.
Anyone who looks like they would appreciate some good food! This occurs twice a month on Friday evening around 5:30 to 6pm. Volunteers traverse Turk, Golden Gate, and Eddy streets from Taylor to Polk streets; handing out sandwiches to anyone they see. Volunteers are from all ages and backgrounds, brought together by a common desire to help in some small way. The Salvation Army San Francisco Turk Street Central Corps also runs a great after school program for kids of all ages. Open daily; Monday thru Friday, at 242 Turk Street, from 3pm to 6pm, you do not need a permanent address to have your children go there after school. They get help with homework, receive snacks, and play games.
This same program operates a day camp during the summer months. It starts on June 9th and runs through August 22nd. From 8:30am to 5:30pm the children receive education, make crafts, are fed lunch and allowed to play indoors and out. There are regular weekly outings scheduled, including swimming on Thursdays. There are some requirements involved, please contact the Salvation Army at the Turk Street Central Corps for more information.
These services may be but a drop in the bucket towards helping out the people who are living on the streets or helping whole families crammed into one expensive hotel room and addressing the issues that accompany each situation. However, at least we can say that there are still places to go, resources to be given out, and people trying to help, trying to make a difference, wanting to make life better for everyone not just themselves. No matter what the President does or says, no matter what our state and city governments do about the financial problems we have, we can still depend upon the some of our faithbased community groups for help and caring.
Lynette