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just could not sustain that – we were the only nongovernment agency out there serving. We had been trying to figure out what to do. One night after prayer and fasting, God woke me up and said,‘ I want you to open a grocery store.’”
He knew it was an outside-the-box idea, but as he began sharing it with leadership, it was accepted. Here’ s how it will work: The Salvation Army will purchase food in bulk from the local food banks. Then, that bulk food will be broken into smaller packaging and sold at a significantly reduced price in the neighborhoods where there is a food desert. Instead of being brought to a warehouse or a food pantry, though, residents will be treated as they would in any grocery store. Major Hogg wants people to have restored dignity as well as a varietyof healthy food options.
“ Our goal is to quadruple their spending power – they can come in four times a week to buy food at such a low price,” he said. Other highlights of the model will include cooking demos with recipes to be given to shoppers and a dry goods barrel that comes free with any purchase.“ They could go in and buy some sauce and a pack of chicken and they could get a pound of pasta, beans and rice which would be free with purchase, so that woman with just two dollars a day can cook a meal for her family. We’ re going to merchandise it so they feel like they are in a grocery store,” he added.
The store space became available when a newly opened Whole Foods in East Baltimore folded. But to the advantage of The Salvation Army’ s DMG Foods, the company that funded Whole Foods’ equipment purchase sold it at a deeply discounted price – the resale value was $ 150,000, and the Army was able to buy everything from security system and cash registers to rotisserie ovens, meat counters and produce displays for $ 40,000.
Lt. Colonel William Mockabee commended Major
Hogg and Major Art Penhale for their vision in devising real solutions to very real problems.
Catherine’ s Cottage, a donated house that will serve as the safe haven for survivors of exploitation, is moving closer to completion. A director has been hired, and Major Rebecca Hogg is partnering with 70 designers, builders and contractors to renovate and landscape the facility.
Another silver lining rising from the clouds of urban poverty is a transfer of use from the Christian Services of Howard County to the Salvation Army. The main non-government social services hub of Howard County was run by someone who knew she was aging out and needed to pass on her 50-year legacy. But she had trouble finding a successor – until prayer led her to The Salvation Army. The woman and her prayer partner were consistently seeking God’ s help in finding a successor, and they looked at the website of a Christian company they trusted, Chick-fil-A, to see who it partnered with. On that site, the woman noticed that Chick-fil-A gave money to the Red Shield and she knew immediately that The Salvation Army was where she wanted her legacy in the community to be passed.
She wanted to pass along her thrift store and its many volunteers, donated clothing / merchandise and the building, but there was a problem – The Salvation Army already runs something similar through its adult rehabilitation centers. So a solution was worked out – the transfer was made, and the Howard County social services entity now picks up whatever donations the ARC can’ t use and vice versa. The new site brings in an additional $ 1,800 a day.“ We turn that right around to social services, so The Salvation Army has become the lead agency for social services in Howard County. We were renting a building and now we own one; it’ s valued at over $ 900,000.” said Major Hogg.
Right, below right: Lieutenants Melvin and Kimberly Harvey helm the Baltimore Temple Corps, which has been joining with neighborhood residents to meet needs within the community. The Harveys, no stranger to declining urban areas( they also served after Hurricane Katrina as volunteers before going to training), have made it their mission to bring good to an area that has received much negative national attention. They regularly lead the corps in neighborhood outreaches, shown.
Left: The Baltimore Temple Corps was the only non-government organization serving food after April 2015 rioting, or what the Baltimore Sun referred to as an uprising.
Left: Baltimore Temple served over 300 Thanksgiving meals in 2015.
Above, clockwise: Central Maryland Area Command; Baltimore Temple Corps; tutoring at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club in Franklin Square.
Above: A rendering of the new DMG Foods that Central Maryland Area Command will begin operating soon.
Left: After the riots in April 2015, Baltimore Temple volunteers served an average of 150 food bags each day for weeks. But Major Hogg, area commander, knew it wasn’ t something the command could sustain and it didn’ t solve the issue long-term.
Bottom left: These newly enrolled soldiers will join the Army ranks in Baltimore, a group of local officers and soldiers who work hard to find out the needs in their community and set out to serve in practical ways.
Photo by Shannon Bell, National Register of Historic Places
Above: Franklin Square is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Originally donated to the City of Baltimore by James and Samuel Canby, real estate developers, in 1839, Franklin Square is a historic area centered on a 2 1 / 2-acre park that is surrounded by row homes. The district’ s residents are banning together to make a difference in their community with the help of the Baltimore Temple Corps. This inner city corps, helmed by Lieutenants Melvin and Kimberly Harvey, was there during the time of the rioting and they’ re still there doing what they can to celebrate the community.“ Every Sunday these young people get up after they worship and go down to our courthouse and do a feeding,” said Major Hogg.“ Here is an inner city community that has very little financial resources, but they are relative to their community. They did a huge Thanksgiving feeding and did over 400 Thanksgiving meals out of a very small room. The Harveys have been excellent in servicing their community, not only through outreach but through social activism,” he said.