ST. GEORGE — The Salvation Army is one step closer to having a full-fledged corps in St. George.
The Salvation Army service center at 803 S. Bluff St., which was founded in St. George in 2016, has officially been designated an outpost, which means they will soon have more staff and more funds to better serve the community, center director Donald Bush said. The next step above an outpost is a corps, which is what larger cities like Salt Lake City have.
“Full-fledged corps have more space and have more access to grants,” said Jared McKiernan, managing editor at New Frontier Publications, a newsletter for The Salvation Army. “It’s basically the same thing they’re doing now, but on a much bigger scale.”
With the new St. George outpost, Bush said he is hoping to start after-school programs for at-risk teens in Washington County. He is guessing it will take another two years until the center becomes a full-fledged corps, he said, which will be able to offer services like a homeless shelter.
The Salvation Army center in St. George is already helping at-risk teens from Millcreek High School in St. George by helping with tuition for them to attend Dixie Technical College, but with the new designation as an outpost, Bush said he is hoping to be able to help more teens.
“There are quite a bit of kids here who are what I call ‘couch surfers,’” Bush said. “They really need a place to sleep and food to eat.”
Read more: Groups advocate for future of homeless youth; a look at the numbers – St. George News June 2017
With more staff and resources as an outpost, Bush said he is hoping to provide these teens a place to go after school. One of the programs he said he will start is a music program for teens to learn instruments.
Bush is also hoping to eventually establish a shelter and rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug addictions in St. George, he said.
“We are trying to reach out to the people in St. George who are underserved,” Bush said. “It’s fine if someone in need comes to us and we can give them a food box or something, but we also want to find those in the community who can’t find us.”
There will be a ceremony and open house at the center to mark the designation of The Salvation Army service center becoming an outpost on a yet-to-be-announced day in February.
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This is good to hear.
I love the salvation army! Fantastic program!