5
15, 2015
ortunity
Quality of Life
Center opens at
Sarasota Area
Command
“I firmly believe in the mission
of The Salvation Army and
all the actions they take to
fulfill that mission. There is
not another organization that
addresses so many needs from
drug and alcohol addition,
feeding the homeless, helping
struggling families and kids
and providing shelter. I want
to be part of the solution and
not the problem. I can do that
here.”
Joe Kouba, a community
volunteer in the Food Service
Department
(Opposite page, top left, clockwise) Youngsters from the Emerging Youth
program construct birdhouses; the sprawling campus of the Sarasota Center of Hope sits on 3.5 acres of property; Joe Kouba believes in the mission
so much that he serves faithfully as a kitchen volunteer; Patrick Odell has
turned his life around, thanks to the Sarasota Center of Hope programs;
Pathway of Hope is the center’s newest initiative, as part of the USA Southern Territory’s roll-out of POH in spring 2015; the alumni group adds to
the circle of support from the community.
The Sarasota Area Command
opened the Quality Life Center on
Oct. 1 to house a new program that
will address changing needs of the
community. The center will be housed
in the Glasser Schoenbaum Human
Services Center, a 14-building, multiagency center that provides multiple
services in a central, accessible
location. The program will focus on
identifying and addressing the unique
needs of each homeless individual that
comes through its doors.
Each resident will be provided with
free services for four weeks, taking
the first week to address quality of life
choices with a case manager and the
following three weeks to work on a plan
of action to find permanent housing.
Residents who decline treatment will be
charged 30% of their income to remain
in the shelter.
“Not every person carrying a
backpack wants to stay at the Salvation
Army or even live in Sarasota,”
Major Ethan Frizzell, Sarasota area
commander, said in an interview with
local news site Your Observer. “How
do we connect them to their preferences
earlier so they don’t get trapped in
Sarasota or trapped in homelessness?”
The goal of the new program is to
help people find housing as quickly
as possible while also addressing
their spiritual, physical, material and
social needs. “What we’re doing is
investing in housing solutions instead
of investing in homelessness,” Frizzell
said.
Laura Poff
ires community collaboration
Hope in Progress is aimed at helping folks
identify what their needs are and directing
them to housing support options that address
their choices.
The Pathway of Hope pilot initiative is one
of the campus’s newest means of supporting
families. “It removes housing fear from a
family, and when you remove fear, you
encourage hope,” said Major Frizzell.
The goal is to serve 88 families this year
through Pathway of Hope. One of the
unique ways the Sarasota Center of Hope is
implementing the POH initiative is through
sustainability peer groups. Families come
together to the Center of Worship and parents
meet in sustainability groups to help them
gain the support and empowerment they need
to make changes they can sustain over time;
children attend youth activities simultaneously
through the corps programming.
The Center of Hope works with other
agencies that are part of the Family Haven
Alliance. Major Frizzell said the community
support has driven its ability to partner
with other non-profits to provide the most
comprehensive services to those who need
it most. He also said the donors who are the
most affluent in the community are also, very
often, the most involved on campus.
“Our most affluent volunteers are serving in
the kitchen,” he said. The Center of Hope food
services provides 230,000 meals a year. “We
get access to our priority donors through their
service. The Center of Hope really is a place of
community. It’s amazing how many hundreds
of people will pass through here in a day.”
Glenda Leonard tells of one such
volunteer – Joe Kouba – who is a retired
Exxon Mobil employee serving three days a
week. Exxon Mobil does matching funds, so
the hours he serves at the center are actually
converted to dollars of donations from the
oil and gas mogul. Kouba was mentored by a
90-something-year-old volunteer and he has
been volunteering at the center ever since.
He’s making a difference for people like
Patrick Odell. Odell came through the center’s
CRP and was able to go back to college and get
his degree in behavioral science. He returned
to the Center of Hope to do an internship so
he could finish his course work and further
his career. While doing that internship, Odell
started a large Facebook community of alumni
– many of whom also return to serve others.
“Hope is at the center of our community,”
said Major Frizzell, “and all around what you
see is people following their hope, connecting
that to opportunity and experiencing an
increased quality of life. People like Patrick are
trophies of grace.”