A place to live for homeless vets

Here's an announcement about plans for a Salvation Army facility for female veterans:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SALVATION ARMY WILL BUILD APARTMENTS FOR HOMELESS FEMALE VETERANS

(San Bernardino, Calif.) - Female veterans and their families who have struggled with homelessness will have a new place to live, thanks to a grant The Salvation Army received recently.

The $150,000 grant is on top of a $1 million zero-interest loan already received from the California Department of Housing & Community Development in July. Together, they will enable The Salvation Army to build eight to ten apartments near 925 Tenth Street, and to remodel an existing shelter there.

A few of the apartments will be reserved for veterans and their families. Since the Salvation Army of San Bernardino shelter primarily serves women and children, the apartments will be for female veterans.

"Building these apartments has been a goal of the Salvation Army for a long time," said Capt. Stephen Ball, commander of The Salvation Army of San Bernardino. "The zero-interest loan from the state has helped us realize that dream, and the grant from the Veterans Administration allows us to reach out to a few more women, who have sacrificed for their country and now need our help to get back to normal lives."

The Salvation Army of San Bernardino offers shelter to women and their husbands and children, usually for up to three months. It plans to offer the apartments to women with families who are living in the shelter, but need to rely longer on the services its ministry provides before making independent living arrangements.

The remodeling to the shelter itself will benefit all who rely on this service.

The shelter is currently operated by Adult Rehabilitation Services, another branch of The Salvation Army, which works with homeless men. Adult Rehabilitation Services is building a larger shelter on Doolittle Street, and should be able to move there in October 2008.

Once Adult Rehabilitation Services moves into their new facility, The Salvation Army of San Bernardino plans to modernize the shelter and to convert some of the area into dormitory-style apartments for single women who stay longer.

"The San Bernardino City Unified School District counted 1,700 homeless children in the district," said Kent Paxton, director of Operation Phoenix, and leader in the city's effort to assist The Salvation Army through the approval process. "Those children belong to families, some of whom will benefit from these apartments."

The California Department of Housing & Community Development loan is zero interest for 10 years, and then won't have to be repaid if The Salvation Army completes construction of the shelter, said Adriana Mattox, a funding consultant with Hill & Associates, a firm that helped The Salvation Army obtain both sources of funding.

Since the grant is from the Veteran's Administration, five of the apartments will be for homeless female veterans. Three single women will live in the remodeled dormitory-style apartments in the shelter, while two women and their children will live in the nearby apartments.

Adult Rehabilitation Center currently operates the Tenth Street shelter as a residence for men in an addiction recovery program. The Salvation Army of San Bernardino is temporarily operating a shelter at 746 W. Fifth Street, primarily serving homeless women and children, but also married couples.

Sheltering up to 96 homeless people every night is just one of the many ministries The Salvation Army of San Bernardino offers. Other ministries include serving dinners six nights a week to up to 200 people, providing spiritual counseling and training, operating youth mentoring and recreational programs, and working to improve the lives of homeless families in the community.

The Salvation Army San Bernardino Citadel Corps has helped residents of San Bernardino, Rialto, Grand Terrace, Highland, Bloomington and Colton since 1887.

The homeless shelter and meals program is located at 746 W. Fifth St. in San Bernardino. For more information call (909) 888-1336.