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By Jesse Gill

Salvation Army shifting focus from meal program

Aug 6, 2024 | 5:22 PM

The Salvation Army in Medicine Hat will eventually be refocusing their efforts away from offering hot meals.

Spokesperson Major Al Hoeft said they are looking to fill services where there is demand in the community and not duplicate services that other organizations are providing.

The meal program offered by the Salvation Army will continue on for a little bit longer, eventually coming to a halt.

Hoeft said an exact date hasn’t been narrowed down, but it will be before the lease expires in the building they currently offer the service.

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“We don’t have the date on that yet. We’re working on that right now. Our team is evaluating based on a number of things,” Hoeft said.

“Obviously staffing issues, obviously the expiration of the lease and things like that, and so we’ll make an announcement as soon as that becomes available,” he added.

“We will let our partners know and we’ll definitely let those who come to us on a regular basis for service know when that program will come to an end.”

Hoeft mentioned the Mustard Seed as an organization that will be able to fill the demand when the food services ends at the Salvation Army.

He also put a to rest rumours about their Thrift Store.

“The thrift store is definitely not closing. That is going to continue that operation in that facility. We actually own that building and we’ll continue to operate out of that facility for the foreseeable future and relocating some of our additional programs into that facility as well.”

Hoeft said the Salvation Army is looking to manage their resources to better serve the community, and look to get back some of the programming that they had previous to COVID.

“As we work as a community, we really need to not duplicate services. We need to work together in ways that make sense to best serve the individuals that come to us every day and the community as a whole,” Hoeft said.

“As a result, we’ve spent some time reviewing our current programs at our drop-in and our meal program, and so some of those are going to change, absolutely.”

Hoeft said they have met with a variety of organizations to talk about issues and services being offered to work together to provide services to the community and avoid duplication.

“We’re in the process of evaluating what programs might be available. Certainly, we’re not interested in transactional services. We really want transformational services,” Hoeft said.

“We want things that are going to bring about change in people’s lives.”

Heoft said the needs of the meal program they offer have changed over the past five years, which is why they will relocate the funds raised to better serve the needs of everyone in the community.

“I think one of the things we want the community to understand is that, we’ve been here a long time. We’ve worked with the community. We’ve worked with the population. We’ve worked downtown. We’ve worked in the burbs,” Hoeft said.

“We understand we’ve been there long enough, and we also realize that there’s a need for the community for the future, and we’re committed to Medicine Hat. We’re committed to working with the community, building programs that will build a stronger, healthier community, and that’s really our goal,” he added.

“Stepping back a little bit immediately, but then expanding again and looking to the future in ways that will make a difference in the lives of individuals and in the lives of families within Medicine Hat.”