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Community DC Major Todd Mason Salvation Army · Community D.C.

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Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
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Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, we welcome to
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Speaker 1: the program for the first time, Major Todd Mason. He
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Speaker 1: is the National Capital Area Commander for the Salvation Army
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Speaker 1: in Washington, d C. Serving the DMV. The Salvation Army
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Speaker 1: is a global evangelical Christian church and charitable organization that
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Speaker 1: meets physical and spiritual needs without discrimination. It's national operations
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Speaker 1: provide social services like homeless shelters, disaster relief, food pantries, addictionaryhabilitation,
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Speaker 1: and holiday assistants, and millions of people annually. Here's my
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Speaker 1: conversation with Major Mason. I hope you enjoy the conversation
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Speaker 1: as much as I did. Good morning, Major Mason, Well,
0:39
Speaker 1: good morning. It is great to have you aboard Community
0:41
Speaker 1: DC for the first time. I've been a big fan
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Speaker 1: of Salvation Army for a long time, and we've had
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Speaker 1: on some of your predecessors before, but I know you've
0:48
Speaker 1: been doing this for three plus years now. I'm happy
0:51
Speaker 1: to have you aboard the program. There is a lot
0:53
Speaker 1: to talk about about all the things that you're currently
0:55
Speaker 1: doing the future, and I think we're going to educate
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Speaker 1: our listeners a lot about all the the web is
1:00
Speaker 1: really it is wide. Your tentacles are wide when it
1:02
Speaker 1: comes to the Salvation Army for Capitol Area Command of
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Speaker 1: what you do? What I'd like, though, Major Mason, if
1:09
Speaker 1: you could do for me versus talk about the history
1:12
Speaker 1: because I didn't know this until I looked it up again.
1:15
Speaker 1: But there's a UK heritage where everything started in the
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Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds and then the United States back in the
1:20
Speaker 1: eighteen eighties. But can you kind of educate our listeners
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Speaker 1: to how everything started because it's over one hundred and
1:25
Speaker 1: sixty years ago. It really is incredible.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, thanks so much for having me today. I'm
1:29
Speaker 2: so grateful to be here. I've been an officer in
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Speaker 2: the Salvation Army for twenty seven years and I got
1:35
Speaker 2: stationed here three years ago. So it's just been really
1:37
Speaker 2: great getting to know the DMV and people like you
1:41
Speaker 2: who are so welcoming. So thanks so much. Yeah. The
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Speaker 2: Salvation Army began in the essentially the mid eighteen hundreds,
1:49
Speaker 2: and it was began by a a gentleman and his wife,
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Speaker 2: William and Catherine Booth. And William was a Methodist minister
2:00
Speaker 2: in London and he and his wife had a real
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Speaker 2: desire to not only preach the gospel but also to
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Speaker 2: help people in need, and so they found themselves in
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Speaker 2: East London during that time around eighteen sixty five, which
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Speaker 2: is when our movement began officially, and they were just
2:21
Speaker 2: trying to really help people that were struggling with injustices,
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Speaker 2: who were struggling with poverty, who were struggling with just
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Speaker 2: day to day things that people who are destitute experience,
2:34
Speaker 2: and their heart was just really tugging them toward that
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Speaker 2: type of ministry. So they really combined, for lack of
2:40
Speaker 2: a better phrase, the best of both worlds, their love
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Speaker 2: for Christ and their desire to serve humanity, and that
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Speaker 2: is how the Salvation Army was born.
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Speaker 1: I do want to talk about Mission and Vision because
2:50
Speaker 1: I know they're ultra important and they're featured on the website.
2:53
Speaker 1: We're going to talk a lot about the website, all
2:55
Speaker 1: the offerings of programs, how to volunteer, how to donate,
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Speaker 1: a myriad of things. But I in all my conversations
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Speaker 1: of talking to nonprofits in the DMV, it seems like
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Speaker 1: either the Washington d C, Philadelphia or New York are
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Speaker 1: the first for nonprofits that are over one hundred years old.
3:12
Speaker 1: Where do we stand as far as Salvation Army in
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Speaker 1: the DC area and when it was kind of founded
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Speaker 1: and kind of put into place.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, great question. Yeah. So we were founded in London
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Speaker 2: in eighteen sixty five and we have been in the
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Speaker 2: DMV since eighteen eighty five.
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Speaker 1: Incredible.
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Speaker 2: So we just celebrate our one hundred and fortieth last June.
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Speaker 2: So we're in our one hundred and forty first year
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Speaker 2: here in the DMV and that's really a testament to
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Speaker 2: the community support and the work that Savaged Army does
3:38
Speaker 2: because it's not common that you're in a place that long.
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Speaker 2: So we're very grateful to have such incredible supporters and
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Speaker 2: volunteers and it's just made a world of difference. He
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Speaker 2: one hundred and forty one years, Yeah, but since eighteen
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Speaker 2: eighty five here it's in d C.
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Speaker 1: It's really extraordinary. I know, sometimes when there's an original
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Speaker 1: message and vision over one hundred and fifty years, things
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Speaker 1: can change obviously and the EBB and flow and everything.
4:05
Speaker 1: But mission and vision, as I got on the website,
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Speaker 1: I know they're ultra important. Can you talk a little
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Speaker 1: bit about them?
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Speaker 2: Yeah? Our mission summed up essentially is twofold. It's to
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Speaker 2: preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human
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Speaker 2: needs and his name without discrimination. So anytime we have
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Speaker 2: a Salvation Army program or service or ministry that any
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Speaker 2: of our centers around the world are doing, it ultimately
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Speaker 2: revolves back to that mission statement. You know, are we
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Speaker 2: meeting people's needs? Are we doing it because we're motivated
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Speaker 2: by God's love? You know? And that's kind of how
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Speaker 2: we develop our program and service plans.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, let's talk a little bit about your programs,
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Speaker 1: and I think we're going to surprise some people of
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Speaker 1: all the amazing things that you do. I talked about
4:49
Speaker 1: all the different tentacles and buckets that you have out there,
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Speaker 1: but maybe some of the main ones that you can
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Speaker 1: talk about that are not necessarily most important, but ones
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Speaker 1: that are being used a lot. But maybe dific go
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Speaker 1: over some of the services and programs if you could with.
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Speaker 2: Us, I certainly will yes. And what I'd love for
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Speaker 2: the viewers the listeners to also know that they may
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Speaker 2: not know, is that the Salvation Army is a global mission.
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Speaker 2: So we are currently in over one hundred and thirty
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Speaker 2: countries around the world. So although in some countries, you
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Speaker 2: may see a Salvation Army school or a Salvation Army hospital.
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Speaker 2: You know, the programs are developed based on the needs
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Speaker 2: that we can help meet in our particular community. So
5:30
Speaker 2: while we may have just a wide range around the world,
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Speaker 2: I'm going to zoom in specifically on the DM.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, that'd be great.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. And so our service area, which is what it's
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Speaker 2: called for the Salvation Army, would be all of northern Virginia,
5:45
Speaker 2: the District of Columbia, and kind of suburban in southern Maryland.
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Speaker 2: So our National Capital Area Command oversees the operations and
5:53
Speaker 2: that geographical area. And in our area we focus on
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Speaker 2: several different things, one of which is food insecurity. So
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Speaker 2: we have in our area ten worship and community centers,
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Speaker 2: and among those locations, at any of them you will
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Speaker 2: find some type of food distribution, whether that's a weekly
6:16
Speaker 2: food distribution, whether it's a food pantry, or whether it's
6:21
Speaker 2: for example, one we have here in DC where we
6:23
Speaker 2: partner with Capillary Food Bank and provide a senior choice
6:26
Speaker 2: market where they come each month and they have a
6:30
Speaker 2: shopping experience where they get fresh produce and proteins. And
6:33
Speaker 2: it also allows us time during that to also distribute
6:37
Speaker 2: things that the community gives to us. So if you
6:40
Speaker 2: donated five hundred pairs of gloves, you know, to help
6:43
Speaker 2: keep people warm in the winter, we would use those
6:46
Speaker 2: food distribution opportunities to also distribute those types of gifts
6:49
Speaker 2: that have been given to us from the community. So
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Speaker 2: food and security is a real significant issue that we're
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Speaker 2: sitting around the DMV, and we're addressing pretty significantly at
7:01
Speaker 2: most all of our locations. The second is we provide
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Speaker 2: specialized shelter. So we have different shelter opportunities that are specialized.
7:13
Speaker 2: I would say so two of them. For example, our
7:16
Speaker 2: Adult Rehabilitation Centers for men, so we have one in
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Speaker 2: Northern Virginia and one here just in the DC Maryland border,
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Speaker 2: and those centers are residential centers for men who are
7:28
Speaker 2: struggling with addiction. So that's one specific type of shelter
7:31
Speaker 2: we offer. Then we have a shelter for women and
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Speaker 2: children called the Elizah Shirley Center for Women and Children,
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Speaker 2: where it's a transitional housing model where the young mothers
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Speaker 2: and their children are in this program for two years
7:44
Speaker 2: up to two years where they have life skills training
7:47
Speaker 2: classes they attend, they complete their educations, they enroll their
7:51
Speaker 2: children in school, they go through different types of ways
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Speaker 2: to maintain a household in terms of budgeting and cooking
7:59
Speaker 2: healthy and things of that nature. So it's a it's
8:01
Speaker 2: a real transitional housing model that we have here in
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Speaker 2: d C. And then we have a kind of a
8:08
Speaker 2: halfway house type system in Alexandria where the gentleman who
8:12
Speaker 2: graduate from the Adult Rehabilitation Center then can move into
8:16
Speaker 2: this program for a transitional housing model as well as
8:19
Speaker 2: they continue to get their life back on its fee.
8:22
Speaker 2: So a variety of different shelter opportunities we have here.
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Speaker 2: In addition, we partner with the government the city each
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Speaker 2: year to provide one of the hypothermia shelters. So during
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Speaker 2: from November through March, when we typically have our coldest,
8:38
Speaker 2: most blistering months here in the DMV, we open a
8:42
Speaker 2: hypothermia shelter that's a low barrier shelter where people can
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Speaker 2: come in from the elements to be safe and to
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Speaker 2: be fed and so so food and security shelters. And
8:54
Speaker 2: then we also here in the DMV provide emergency to
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Speaker 2: maser services, So if there's a local disaster, whether it's
9:04
Speaker 2: a natural disaster like a tornado or a flood or
9:08
Speaker 2: a blizzard, or whether it's something else like a power
9:11
Speaker 2: outage or a civil unrest. We often we will partner
9:15
Speaker 2: with the government and emergency management and we will often
9:19
Speaker 2: go in and provide services during that disaster. And what
9:23
Speaker 2: we tend to focus on because you know, we have
9:26
Speaker 2: incredible collaborative partners like the Red Cross and other groups
9:30
Speaker 2: who that's their their primary focus. Uh So we come
9:33
Speaker 2: in and provide supportive roles in those ways. So we
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Speaker 2: provide food and hydration and emotional and spiritual care during disasters.
9:42
Speaker 2: So if there's something like a plane crash or like
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Speaker 2: you know, something like that, we may be called upon
9:48
Speaker 2: to go in and provide those specific services during disaster,
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Speaker 2: you know.
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Speaker 1: As a footnote, and I'd like to talk more about
9:54
Speaker 1: some of your partners. You're in a really unusual spot
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Speaker 1: where you get to work with other nonprofits of partners.
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Speaker 1: We've had Dale kots On here from the American Red Cross,
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Speaker 1: who I'm sure you know in Rata from the capillarya
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Speaker 1: Food Bank. They're all wonderful people. And I think what
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Speaker 1: you do, it's really why I say it's unusual. I
10:14
Speaker 1: think it's just a perfect setup. For you that while
10:16
Speaker 1: you do all this work, you do need other corporate
10:18
Speaker 1: partners and nonprofits to execute the things you do. Correct.
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Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely, collaborations are key in the nonprofit world because
10:24
Speaker 2: a you want to make sure that the donors and
10:27
Speaker 2: supporters of all these organizations are you know, that we're
10:30
Speaker 2: using their resources to the best of our ability, and
10:33
Speaker 2: that means not duplicating services that others are doing so well,
10:36
Speaker 2: you know. And so it's very important for nonprofit agencies
10:41
Speaker 2: to understand that collaboration is not showing a sign of
10:45
Speaker 2: weakness on your back, but it's showing a sign of
10:47
Speaker 2: strength on mapp of the community because you're utilizing the
10:51
Speaker 2: specific things that different agencies do wonderfully and you're simply
10:56
Speaker 2: adding to that or enhancing it with what you can do.
10:59
Speaker 2: And so collaborations are key for us and we couldn't
11:03
Speaker 2: survive without them, to be honest.
11:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, Major Mason, if you could do me a favor
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Speaker 1: and indulge me, because I'd love to talk about your
11:09
Speaker 1: staff and also your partners, because I know that you're
11:11
Speaker 1: not a one person band. There's a team of people.
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Speaker 1: Then of course there are volunteers, then the partners. We're
11:17
Speaker 1: going to talk about donations and volunteering, but talk a
11:20
Speaker 1: little bit about your staff and then the third parties
11:22
Speaker 1: that you work with. I know you were kind of
11:24
Speaker 1: talking about that when it comes with some of your
11:26
Speaker 1: nonprofit partners. But let's talk about the staff for a
11:28
Speaker 1: little bit. You know their duties, what they do, and
11:30
Speaker 1: what they mean to you.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you. So most of our locations have, similar
11:35
Speaker 2: to me, a Salvation Army officer station there, so they'll
11:39
Speaker 2: have a Salvation Army officer or an officer couple, and
11:43
Speaker 2: then the officer couple will also have a support staff
11:47
Speaker 2: of employees because we get stationed around different places based
11:52
Speaker 2: on the needs of our corporate headquarters and so we
11:55
Speaker 2: rely on our longtime, faithful employees to be the consistent
11:59
Speaker 2: faces of our local units. And so our employees play
12:03
Speaker 2: a very important role in our overall ability to function
12:07
Speaker 2: and provide the services continuously without interruption. And we then have,
12:13
Speaker 2: of course volunteers, a volunteer base that is incredible. Some
12:19
Speaker 2: more specific volunteers we have would be an advisory Board
12:23
Speaker 2: and a Women's Auxiliary and those are two specific groups
12:25
Speaker 2: that serve for the Salvation Army to help us with
12:29
Speaker 2: strategic direction with fundraising and oversight of our finances and
12:33
Speaker 2: things of that nature. And so our advisory groups are
12:37
Speaker 2: very important group of volunteers as well. And then we
12:39
Speaker 2: have people just like you and me who would sign
12:41
Speaker 2: up to come volunteer at our angel Try warehouse to
12:43
Speaker 2: help distribute gifts at Christmas, or who would you know
12:46
Speaker 2: work at one of our local core worship centers to
12:49
Speaker 2: help with food distributions. And so we really rely on
12:53
Speaker 2: those individual and family volunteers and groups of volunteers as well,
12:57
Speaker 2: all of which are equally as important to our overall
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Speaker 2: ministry and mission outstanding.
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Speaker 1: In just a moment, I want to talk about donations
13:05
Speaker 1: and funding and all the cool things are because there's
13:06
Speaker 1: so many ways to do that, folks. But I think
13:08
Speaker 1: we also got people's attention about the cool things that
13:10
Speaker 1: you do, and they're wondering, well, how do I sign
13:12
Speaker 1: up or how do I reach out to volunteer? How
13:14
Speaker 1: do they start the process for that.
13:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, So what I always tell people, the easiest thing
13:19
Speaker 2: to do is to go on our website, because our
13:21
Speaker 2: website is kind of all inclusive, and there's a link
13:24
Speaker 2: at the top of our website that says location, and
13:27
Speaker 2: you can key in your zip code where you live,
13:30
Speaker 2: and it will show you the nearest Salvation Army unit
13:33
Speaker 2: that's closest to you. There's also volunteer tabs, there's donation tabs,
13:38
Speaker 2: there's ways you can learn about all the different programs
13:41
Speaker 2: that all of our centers offer. So you know, all
13:45
Speaker 2: of our center we are faith based organizations, so all
13:47
Speaker 2: of our community and worship centers will offer a regular
13:51
Speaker 2: worship schedule. They will also offer things like youth music classes,
13:56
Speaker 2: or seniors exercise classes, or men and women's adult ministry classes.
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Speaker 2: You know, fellowship groups and our Bible studies, et cetera.
14:04
Speaker 2: So the range of programs and services that are offered
14:08
Speaker 2: at all of our community centers around the DMV is
14:12
Speaker 2: really expansive. And so the best thing to do is
14:14
Speaker 2: go to the website key in the area where you
14:17
Speaker 2: live or you're interested in volunteering in, and it will
14:20
Speaker 2: lead you to your neighborhood Salvation Army.
14:23
Speaker 1: Very good, and this is a good segue to talk
14:25
Speaker 1: about donations. There is a big fat red donate button
14:27
Speaker 1: up there, so I want you to check that out.
14:29
Speaker 1: We'll give the website near the end of our interview.
14:31
Speaker 1: But what people may now know you can donate goods
14:35
Speaker 1: and clothing, and there are funds that you can you
14:38
Speaker 1: can do bonds, funds and stocks and IRA rollovers, many
14:42
Speaker 1: ways to give with annuities and wills and gifts, which
14:44
Speaker 1: I like that you've given people choices, not just one
14:47
Speaker 1: way to do it. Talk a little bit more about
14:49
Speaker 1: how people can donate, and then talk about how you
14:52
Speaker 1: are funded.
14:52
Speaker 2: Yes, we have our traditional ways of fundraising. You know,
14:55
Speaker 2: we have mail appeals, so people receive mailings and they
14:59
Speaker 2: can and then their donations that way, they can include
15:03
Speaker 2: the Salvation Army and their plan giving, you know, in
15:06
Speaker 2: their estates and so forth. In that aspect, they can
15:12
Speaker 2: give digitally so they can go onto our website and
15:14
Speaker 2: give that way. If they're not comfortable sending paper checks
15:17
Speaker 2: in or mailings, then like that. And then we have
15:20
Speaker 2: you know, of course, our fundraisers throughout the year, like
15:23
Speaker 2: our red Kettle campaign during the Christmas season where you
15:25
Speaker 2: can go to a local store and shop and drop
15:29
Speaker 2: a dollar in the Salvage Army Red Kettle. So lots
15:32
Speaker 2: of different ways to donate, lots of different ways to volunteer,
15:37
Speaker 2: and we're just so grateful for people to do one
15:42
Speaker 2: or both of those things, because that's really what allows
15:45
Speaker 2: us to keep our mission marching forward here in the DMV,
15:49
Speaker 2: you know, for one hundred and forty one years, to
15:51
Speaker 2: help meet needs in Christ's name without discrimination. It's the
15:57
Speaker 2: resources and the volunteers are such a vital part of that.
16:02
Speaker 2: But yeah, so lots of different ways to give, whether
16:04
Speaker 2: it's through your traditional fundraising methods, whether it's through plan giving,
16:09
Speaker 2: whether it's through a monthly donation that's that's auto automatic,
16:14
Speaker 2: you know, recurring, or whether it's through some of the
16:17
Speaker 2: different events that we have throughout the year. Those are
16:19
Speaker 2: the primary ways you can you can give very.
16:22
Speaker 1: Good and we'll give it at the end of our
16:24
Speaker 1: interview today. But why don't we give the website for
16:26
Speaker 1: all the I know a lot of our SMAT listeners
16:28
Speaker 1: have already googled you up and found you out, But
16:30
Speaker 1: what's the website for everybody? Really quickly?
16:31
Speaker 2: Salvation Army NCAA dot org. So Salvation Army National Couple
16:36
Speaker 2: Area is what that stands for. Salvation Army NCAA dot org.
16:39
Speaker 2: And on that page you will see a variety of
16:42
Speaker 2: tabs at the top where you can learn more about us.
16:44
Speaker 2: You can you can log into Volunteer, you can log
16:48
Speaker 2: into donate, you can seek out your your location and
16:52
Speaker 2: what's nearest you and what the programs and services are offered.
16:55
Speaker 2: And so the website's really all inclusive, and that's what
16:59
Speaker 2: always for people.
17:00
Speaker 1: To very good. It's beautiful and easy to navigate. I
17:02
Speaker 1: can assure you, folks, it's really have done a good
17:04
Speaker 1: job with that. I did want to back up a
17:06
Speaker 1: little bit, Major Mason, talk a little bit about more
17:08
Speaker 1: your team, but also the third parties that you work with,
17:10
Speaker 1: because you touch on a social services aspect so much. Obviously,
17:15
Speaker 1: you have to work with people that are in tune
17:17
Speaker 1: what's going on there. And I'm just trying to get
17:20
Speaker 1: my arms around all the balls that you have to
17:22
Speaker 1: juggle with, all the different buckets of services that you offer,
17:26
Speaker 1: and I imagine between educating yourself and just working on
17:31
Speaker 1: what's coming up next all the time. It really is
17:33
Speaker 1: an amazing feat that you're doing it all. And once again,
17:35
Speaker 1: I know you have a great support team, but maybe
17:37
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about just from your standpoint as
17:40
Speaker 1: you work with all these different agencies and these other
17:42
Speaker 1: nonprofits in the social world, it's got to be incredible
17:46
Speaker 1: to keep up with, not educationally, but just what the
17:48
Speaker 1: latest is happening out there in the DMV. Could you
17:51
Speaker 1: just kind of talk a little bit more about that.
17:53
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it's so exciting for me as the very
17:57
Speaker 2: commander to be able to learn about the d m
18:00
Speaker 2: V these past three years because essentially we're one of
18:03
Speaker 2: the few commands of the Salvation Army where we're essentially
18:06
Speaker 2: covering three states. Yeah, so we're dealing with three different
18:10
Speaker 2: sets of laws, three different minimum wages, you know, so
18:14
Speaker 2: when we do something as simple as hire an employee,
18:18
Speaker 2: we have to be mindful of where they're being employed at,
18:21
Speaker 2: which one of our locations because of the different minimum
18:24
Speaker 2: wage requirements and so forth. So we we rely not
18:28
Speaker 2: only on a human resources team and a development team
18:34
Speaker 2: that really keeps up to date on all the different
18:37
Speaker 2: laws and different trends, but we also, you know, rely
18:41
Speaker 2: on corporate partners. We rely on all of our collaborative
18:45
Speaker 2: partners like Capitoalary Food Bank or VOAD, you know who
18:48
Speaker 2: we serve with for volunteers, Organization's Active and disaster you know,
18:54
Speaker 2: the government agencies that we work with. So it's just
19:02
Speaker 2: you know, a really important aspect of our our daily
19:06
Speaker 2: ongoings that we partner and collaborate. So it's kind of
19:10
Speaker 2: like second nature at this point.
19:13
Speaker 1: I bet it is. But you know, the one thing
19:15
Speaker 1: that people don't know is that, you know, fundraising is
19:18
Speaker 1: such a big deal for what you do. I know,
19:21
Speaker 1: it's a large portion of the job out there, and
19:23
Speaker 1: working with all of these small, medium, or large corporate
19:26
Speaker 1: partners are a really big deal and it's really not
19:28
Speaker 1: stop a teer round.
19:29
Speaker 2: Yeah. So here's a great example of that. So here
19:31
Speaker 2: in DC, we have a program for the Salvation Army
19:34
Speaker 2: called Great Patrol gr at Patrol, and that's a mobile
19:39
Speaker 2: social services unit essentially that we have that travels around
19:43
Speaker 2: the district upwards of three undred and fifteen nights a year,
19:47
Speaker 2: so almost every night of the year, providing a hot
19:50
Speaker 2: meal and providing social service assistants and distributing gifts and
19:55
Speaker 2: kind So in order for us to have a program
19:59
Speaker 2: like that, we have employees and volunteers that go on
20:03
Speaker 2: this unit and travel around to six different stops in
20:06
Speaker 2: the district every night of the year. It requires a
20:09
Speaker 2: lot of food. Yeah, you know, so we partner with
20:11
Speaker 2: a lot of churches who provide you know, one church
20:14
Speaker 2: may adopt every Tuesday night of the month and provide
20:17
Speaker 2: the meal that night. You know, a restaurant may adopt
20:21
Speaker 2: another night. You know, we may have a capitulary food
20:25
Speaker 2: bank where we receive goods from each month toward these programs.
20:30
Speaker 2: The DC Rotary Club, you know, contributed money toward the
20:34
Speaker 2: purchase of our vehicle. You know, Consolidated did the same thing.
20:38
Speaker 2: So it takes people helping with the capital needs, the
20:42
Speaker 2: actual needs, the resource needs that we have for that
20:46
Speaker 2: particular program. But that's just one example of a program
20:49
Speaker 2: where it takes multiple partnerships and collaborative efforts and volunteer
20:53
Speaker 2: unity to make one program happen to where we can
20:57
Speaker 2: serve so many people each each month who are hungry
21:02
Speaker 2: and who are in need of social services resources.
21:06
Speaker 1: You know, the one thing, Major Mason, that when I
21:09
Speaker 1: think about this, is that it's so progressive and forward
21:12
Speaker 1: thinking that you do this because there's a lot of
21:14
Speaker 1: people that can't come to you, so you're going to
21:17
Speaker 1: them on the streets and it really is extraordinary. And
21:20
Speaker 1: I imagine that you know, the phrasing a big hit
21:24
Speaker 1: is not proper here and appropriate, but I imagine it
21:27
Speaker 1: is well received because you can go right to where
21:29
Speaker 1: people are at the six stops that you talked about
21:31
Speaker 1: and help people that are need And I'm sure that
21:33
Speaker 1: with you doing it often people know that you're doing
21:35
Speaker 1: it now, but there's not a lot of nonprofits that
21:38
Speaker 1: can afford to do that. So you're doing these with
21:40
Speaker 1: the partners. I think it's just outstanding that you can
21:43
Speaker 1: go to the people out there and I imagine it
21:45
Speaker 1: is well received.
21:46
Speaker 2: It is well received, and it's needed. And so our
21:50
Speaker 2: great patrol team they're consistently monitoring where the movement of
21:55
Speaker 2: people are taking place, you know, and so where has
21:58
Speaker 2: a new tendon canbinate right Well.
22:01
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting that you bring that up to
22:03
Speaker 1: because I've talked to enough nonprofit profits out there that
22:06
Speaker 1: when you're working with unhouse people is that they're constantly
22:10
Speaker 1: on the move. I learned this one thing that if
22:12
Speaker 1: I could indulge you for a second, about Transitional school
22:14
Speaker 1: that was in Portland, Oregon, where I used to live,
22:17
Speaker 1: and they were basically it was for un house kids
22:20
Speaker 1: and regular school giving the meals three three times a day.
22:23
Speaker 1: It was really extraordinary set up with the church there.
22:25
Speaker 1: And what I found out is that the school bus
22:27
Speaker 1: it was picking up these kids with these families. They
22:30
Speaker 1: were constantly on the move. They were at a motel
22:32
Speaker 1: one day, but they'd have to move out and then
22:34
Speaker 1: they're on a street corner of the next. And that's
22:36
Speaker 1: what I'd like to educate people about. And I know
22:39
Speaker 1: you and your team know this. A lot of these
22:41
Speaker 1: people that are on house are on the move all
22:43
Speaker 1: the time. So your team has to stay right on
22:46
Speaker 1: top of it and talk to the people on the
22:48
Speaker 1: street where they are next. And you talked about accountenance
22:51
Speaker 1: or where a larger amount of people are. It's ever evolving,
22:55
Speaker 1: isn't it.
22:55
Speaker 2: It really is. And what we want to do is
22:58
Speaker 2: make sure that this Great betray Old vehicle is not
23:01
Speaker 2: just feeding but it's also providing resources that are needed. So,
23:04
Speaker 2: for example, our caseworker is on that great patrol vehicle
23:07
Speaker 2: each night. And so if someone comes up for food,
23:10
Speaker 2: but they also need help figuring out how to just
23:12
Speaker 2: get some basic ID, you know, an identification card, or
23:17
Speaker 2: if they need help with realizing benefits they may have
23:21
Speaker 2: through the VA or wherever, then we're able. Or if
23:24
Speaker 2: they need you know, clothing or or additional food or
23:28
Speaker 2: transportation assistance, you know, a bus ticket to get to
23:31
Speaker 2: a family's home to where they're going to stay. So
23:34
Speaker 2: there's just so much involved each night with with people
23:38
Speaker 2: who are who are on house and who are just
23:42
Speaker 2: yearning for any type of hope, and you know, in
23:46
Speaker 2: the in the homeless way possible. We we just collaborate
23:49
Speaker 2: with volunteers and churches and sponsors and we just try
23:53
Speaker 2: to meet the most needs we can, uh, you know,
23:57
Speaker 2: with the resources we have. Just important, and that's really
24:02
Speaker 2: what we were founded upon to preach the gospel of
24:04
Speaker 2: Christ and that that happens through our our words and
24:06
Speaker 2: our actions, you know, and so by by going out
24:09
Speaker 2: on like great patrol each night, what a great opportunity
24:12
Speaker 2: for us to live out our mission, but also you know,
24:15
Speaker 2: to to show the community that we care. So just
24:19
Speaker 2: a real privilege to be able.
24:20
Speaker 1: To do that, outstanding, Thanks for expounding on that. That's
24:23
Speaker 1: just really incredible stuff we have about me And then yeah,
24:26
Speaker 1: go ahead.
24:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, one thing else I wanted to uh inform the
24:30
Speaker 2: listeners about is that while you can go to the website,
24:35
Speaker 2: we also have a way where so for example, if
24:39
Speaker 2: you are if you encounter someone in the community who
24:42
Speaker 2: needs you know, utility assistance, and you don't know what
24:44
Speaker 2: to tell them. We have a we've developed are we
24:48
Speaker 2: we now have an online portal called essay help dot
24:51
Speaker 2: me Salvation Army Help dot me where people can go
24:55
Speaker 2: and they can apply for the various types of assistance
24:57
Speaker 2: they they are seeking online now and then our caseworkers
25:02
Speaker 2: will follow up with them with a phone call. But
25:04
Speaker 2: it's another great way for people to who are in
25:08
Speaker 2: need and don't have a vehicle to travel to one
25:10
Speaker 2: of our sites to be able to do that, you know,
25:13
Speaker 2: from wherever they are, whether it's the library, wherever they
25:16
Speaker 2: may have a computer access. And so that's been a
25:20
Speaker 2: real real game changer for us as well in regards
25:23
Speaker 2: to social services because one of the things we also
25:26
Speaker 2: do around the d m B, the Salvation Army provides
25:28
Speaker 2: things like you know, as resources are available, utility assistance,
25:33
Speaker 2: rental assistance, transportation assistants and so as they helped out
25:38
Speaker 2: me allows you to go on that site and indicate
25:41
Speaker 2: to us which of those types of assistants you're seeking,
25:43
Speaker 2: and then we can then work with you to either
25:46
Speaker 2: help provide that in some way or to resource you
25:49
Speaker 2: somewhere that possibly can. So just another great way that
25:52
Speaker 2: we're you know, in the modern modernization of the world,
25:56
Speaker 2: we're trying to come up with ways to be more
25:58
Speaker 2: accessible to people well as opposed to just walking to
26:01
Speaker 2: one of our facilities.
26:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's what I was kind of alluding to
26:04
Speaker 1: a few minutes ago. We talked about all these buckets
26:07
Speaker 1: that you have and how your web is spread throughout
26:10
Speaker 1: the DMV. And while I want to get some final
26:13
Speaker 1: thoughts as we wrap up here, is there anything either
26:16
Speaker 1: in the rest of twenty twenty six or in the
26:18
Speaker 1: future that you're either working on now or that you're
26:21
Speaker 1: excited about that might be new, or that you're continuing
26:23
Speaker 1: to grow Salvation Army that you can share with us.
26:26
Speaker 2: Yes, we are working on We have a strategic plan,
26:30
Speaker 2: of course, you know, we were always trying to think
26:33
Speaker 2: ahead and work with our board on what we can
26:35
Speaker 2: do strategically to help meet the most needs and where
26:38
Speaker 2: we can best fit in to that community dynamic. And
26:41
Speaker 2: so what we're working on now is kind of an
26:44
Speaker 2: expansion of our services in the northeast kind of corridor
26:47
Speaker 2: of DC. So one of the things you may see,
26:52
Speaker 2: I'm will likely see in the next year or so
26:54
Speaker 2: is a great patrol too, where we will be doing
26:58
Speaker 2: some different great patrols services in kind of the northeast
27:02
Speaker 2: section of DC and over into Maryland a little bit
27:06
Speaker 2: where there'll be some more kind of us taking things
27:09
Speaker 2: to different complexes and places where people are in need.
27:13
Speaker 2: And so a great patrol too is on the way.
27:17
Speaker 2: And then we're going to be opening a satellite social
27:19
Speaker 2: service office up in the Northeast area as well. Oh wow,
27:23
Speaker 2: so we'll have one of our social workers, our social
27:25
Speaker 2: work team expanded and have some presence up there in
27:30
Speaker 2: that section of the city. So yeah, those are a
27:33
Speaker 2: couple of the things that we're working on now you'll
27:35
Speaker 2: likely to see happen in the next year or so.
27:37
Speaker 1: I don't know how you do it. I know you
27:38
Speaker 1: have a great support network, and my goodness, is just
27:40
Speaker 1: so much going on. The other I talked about juggling
27:42
Speaker 1: all the balls. It's really incredible. But I'm sure a
27:45
Speaker 1: lot of great communication. Well, let's do this. We have
27:47
Speaker 1: a couple of minutes left. I'd love to get some
27:49
Speaker 1: final thoughts. We'll give the website one more time and
27:51
Speaker 1: remind everybody how they can donate and volunteer. But I
27:55
Speaker 1: just want to get a recap of we talked about
27:58
Speaker 1: Major of the floors of yours.
28:00
Speaker 2: Thank you, Yeah, we just I always like to take
28:02
Speaker 2: this opportunity to just thank the community, you know, all
28:05
Speaker 2: the listeners, for the continued support and faith that you
28:10
Speaker 2: have in our organization. We are certainly not perfect, you know,
28:14
Speaker 2: we would never claim to be. But what we what
28:16
Speaker 2: we do want to do is make sure that we
28:18
Speaker 2: are consistently living on our mission, which is to preach
28:22
Speaker 2: the Gospel of Christ and to meet human needs without discrimination.
28:26
Speaker 2: And that's what we intend to keep doing this next
28:29
Speaker 2: hundred and forty one years here in the DMV. So
28:33
Speaker 2: thank you for having us today. We're so grateful for
28:35
Speaker 2: this opportunity.
28:36
Speaker 1: No, it's my pleasure. You and your team do great work.
28:38
Speaker 1: And let's give the people the website one more time
28:41
Speaker 1: and remind them that all the information's on there, the
28:43
Speaker 1: programs we talked about. And by the way, folks, we
28:45
Speaker 1: just hit the tip of the iceberg. What the Major
28:48
Speaker 1: does with this team. It really is incredible the services
28:50
Speaker 1: and programs they have, and you really have to go
28:52
Speaker 1: into their great website to make sure that you check
28:55
Speaker 1: all the different links on the nab Bar and as
28:57
Speaker 1: I say, there's a big red donate button and that'll
29:00
Speaker 1: teach you how to go through and donate locations as
29:03
Speaker 1: he had talked about too, if you want to talk
29:05
Speaker 1: about the DMV and find out what they're doing in
29:06
Speaker 1: the capital area here. But let's give the website one
29:09
Speaker 1: more time for everybody.
29:10
Speaker 2: Salvation Army NCA dot org. Any Salvation Army website you
29:14
Speaker 2: go to, though, you'll be able to click the location
29:16
Speaker 2: only and it we'll send you to that local commands website.
29:19
Speaker 2: So but Salvation Army NCAA dot org. We'll get you
29:21
Speaker 2: all the information and a standing well.
29:23
Speaker 1: Major Mason, I'm glad we had an opportunity to feature
29:26
Speaker 1: you on the program for the first time. I'd love
29:28
Speaker 1: to stay in touch with you and have you on
29:30
Speaker 1: Community d C again. But thank you so much. Get
29:32
Speaker 1: my best, your team and all your partners out there
29:35
Speaker 1: just doing outstanding work. And we really appreciate what you do.
29:37
Speaker 1: I'm a I'm a Northwest d C residence, so I
29:40
Speaker 1: can see where you're doing on the streets out there.
29:42
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, and we really appreciate it continued success.
29:45
Speaker 2: Appreciate it. I guild so the oceans and make the
29:53
Speaker 2: world better.
29:54
Speaker 1: Say learn more at she can stamps a message ropped
29:59
Speaker 1: you by the account well