Success Stories
Often times, you’ll find financial stories on a page like this. But The Salvation Army is committed to working for change, and here’s how:
Names and personal information have been changed to protect identities.
On a blistery night in November a woman walked through the doors of The Salvation Army to register her children for Christmas toys and clothes. She had come a long way.
Sarah was in an abusive relationship and finally left after her second child was born. Heartbroken and heavy-laden with two young children aged 3 weeks and 1 year, she had no where to turn and so the three began living out of the car. For years they bounced from shelter to shelter in numerous communities before finally landing in Bloomington.
Sarah found a run down garage with a lock on it that someone rented to her, and from there she began to rebuild her life. Her children were placed in school, the Shalom Center was a blessing and Sarah began looking for Section 8 housing, and that’s when someone told her about The Salvation Army.
That Christmas, The Salvation Army gave the children bags of toys, a video game system and bikes. Sarah received a box full of food. Soon after she came to get a voucher to the Thrift Store and she brought home a silverware divider for drawers. The next day opened the drawer to look for a utensil and she began to tear up, because she had thought she would never have anything nice ever again. But through it all, her faith got her through, telling herself, “God will provide”.
Told Anonymously
My Great Grandpa was sick with tuberculosis in 1954 he was only 33 years old. He was isolated in a hospital room in a coma. My great grandma was also 33 and had 9 kids, and felt all alone in the hospital waiting for her husband either to pass or wake up. She heard the most beautiful sound coming from the halls. It was Dec. 24th and The Salvation Army was caroling through the halls of the hospital. They came in my Great Grandpa’s room and put an apple, an orange and a black comb tied in a Christmas ribbon next to him on the table and sang to him. My grandma did not feel alone any more, and that was much appreciated by my Great grandma. I think you would agree that they did a great thing for her. Told by Tiffany H.
My dad has been gone for about 14 years now, but I remember him telling me how the Salvation Army used to pick him up on Sunday and take him to services. They would make sure he had clothing and was well fed. My father was born during the Great Depression, so I know many families relied on the Salvation Army to help them through a difficult time.
My father was born and raised in Linton just 50 miles from here. I can remember as a child going to ring the bell because it was something he wanted me to do to repay for what they had done. He explained that it was because of the Salvation Army that I had what I needed because they provided for him what he needed during that time. He was a member of the local Rotary Club and they always had a big competition to see who could raise the most money during their bell ringing time. He was always at the top or close to it because he would work so hard to get people to donate. I can also remember a mortgage burning ceremony at the Salvation Army as a kid and my dad coming home almost in tears of happiness because they were able to do that.
Told by Jenny F.
Do you have an encouraging story about how The Salvation Army has impacted yours or a family member’s life? Send them in to Peter_Iversen@usc.salvationarmy.org.
