Salvation Army Celebrates 100 Years In Warsaw
May 22, 2021 at 7:58 p.m.
Salvation Army Celebrates 100 Years In Warsaw
By David [email protected]
“In some ways, it hasn’t changed at all, but I think just the method in the way that we do it (has). But the basic mission of helping, meeting people’s needs in the name of Jesus without discrimination, that has not changed from 1921 until now,” said Warsaw Salvation Army Envoy Ken Locke.
The Warsaw Salvation Army is celebrating its 100th year of helping people this year. Capt. and Mrs. Fred Harvey came to Warsaw in 1921. In February 1921, Harvey presented to the Warsaw Rotary Club at the Hays Hotel – downtown Warsaw where Lake City Bank is now – that the Army was going to open in Warsaw and start an assistance program and try to reach out to the unchurched people in the community. Their first office was at City Hall, opening in March 1921.
“They moved around a lot, but in 1939, they moved into a building on Detroit and Main streets, basically where CVS is now,” Ken said. “From what I can tell, they really struggled during the Depression to even stay open, but I don’t know that for sure. I’m sure it was hard. I don’t know how they did it actually.”
The Salvation Army moved to its current location at 501 E. Arthur St., Warsaw, in 1957. The capital campaign was conducted by Brig. Brice Phillipson. The United Way was formed in 1958 with the Salvation Army being one of its charter partners.
Since the Salvation Army came to Warsaw, it has had many officers to oversee its operation. Ken said, in general, there was a new officer almost every two years. Ken has been back to Warsaw as an employee since 1997, and estimated he’s seen about 12 sets of officers during his time. Ken and his wife Sina are the corps administrators for the Army.
“There’s a difference between being an officer and an employee,” said Sina. “And they can’t move us. That’s the one big thing,” Ken said. Sina said they still have a lot of responsibility in their roles.
One of the biggest changes for the Salvation Army, Ken said, is that there are more agencies out there now helping people in various ways. “In 1921, we were probably it. And now, you have a lot of social service agencies, so there’s much more work in collaborating and working together in the community in that way,” he said.
He said having those other social service agencies out there is a blessing in the sense that “you can venture out and take care of needs that other agencies aren’t doing. And (Combined Community Services) and us and Fellowship Missions, too, we’ve all kind of taken our niche and we work on that. And then we’ll take on something that maybe another agency is not doing.”
It takes time to coordinate with other agencies, he said, but technology has help with that. Salvation Army, CCS and a couple other agencies have a program called Charity Tracker that allows them to coordinate more quickly in trying to meet people’s needs, Ken said.
Salvation Army used to have a thrift store, Sina said. It closed in the early 2000s. The last location for the thrift store was at 326 N. Detroit St., where it had opened March 19, 2001. Prior to that, it was at the Salvation Army’s 501 E. Arthur St. location. Sina said Fort Wayne takes its donations, but there’s no indication a Salvation Army thrift store will return to Warsaw. Ken said the money generated from the thrift store helped the Army fulfill its mission. Ken said there were many reasons the thrift store closed, including people now sell their good stuff online and the cost to haul the trash that was left has increased dramatically. Sina said the Salvation Army also wanted to streamline their stores, too.
With the thrift store gone, Ken said that freed up the Arthur Street building so they could put in a food pantry and have programs like the diaper and Angel of Hope programs. “We’ve been able to move in that direction and do some different things,” he said.
The number of people the Salvation Army is helping now is pretty high, he said. “There was assistance being given out, but not to the scale that it is now. There is a lot of help going out to people, not just from the Salvation Army, but a lot of agencies. That’s a big change.”
While the assistance level is not the most he’s ever seen, Ken said the late 1970s and early 1980s were pretty busy because inflation was so high, though he wasn’t with the Army then. Since Ken’s been in Warsaw, he said 2009 was bad because of the Great Recession. “We do worry about that coming back,” Sina said. Ken stated, “We don’t know what the post-COVID (pandemic) is going to look like because we have helped a lot of people, but not huge levels. Now people are going to go back to work, which is a good thing, or losing unemployment and not having planned real well, so that’s going to be interesting.”
The Salvation Army offers a worship service at 11 a.m. Sundays. “We’re trying to catch people at touchpoints,” Ken said. Sina does women’s ministries.
“The Army tries to take a holistic approach to people,” Ken said.
“So our church isn’t just Sunday. It’s the people we see all week long,” Sina said.
“So we’re praying with them in the alley. Sometimes out here while we’re giving them assistance, especially during COVID, we’re doing a lot of praying. A lot of people were scared. We were doing a lot of that,” Ken said. “A lot of our spiritual stuff is not necessarily tied to just a worship service. We’re trying to reach people where they’re at and kind of work in that direction.”
Sina said Ken is so well-known in the community that people will come into the Salvation Army just to talk to him. “It’s that one-on-one or a couple, family with him, or someone in the alley praying with him. It’s really impactful. And sometimes the people, we’ll see them in church. They might stay and continue to attend, but it’s a small percentage that really get involved in the church ministry,” she said.
Ken said the Salvation Army isn’t church-focused, it’s ministry-focused.
The organization relies greatly on donations, including many gift in-kind donations. Sina said the Salvation Army has been very blessed as people have been generous toward it.
The Salvation Army was started in 1865 in England. It’s now in over 120 countries around the world.
“We always say to each other, people know the Salvation Army but they really don’t know what we do. They just know we’re out there,” Ken said. “It seems like when a disaster comes, people know that the Salvation Army is going to be there, helping.”
Besides providing assistance to those affected by COVID-19 in March 2020, it did a big push for Hurricane Katrina in 2005; served in 2001 when a tornado hit Warsaw; responded to a tornado in 1974 in Warsaw; and served when the Palm Sunday tornadoes hit in 1965.
The Warsaw Salvation Army serves Whitley and Kosciusko counties.
The Salvation Army will have an open house with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce Oct. 7. They will have a table at Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts during its production of “Guys & Dolls.” There’s been some other smaller events, with some other events like a homecoming in October being planned.
“There have been so many people to make these 100 years happen. We certainly don’t sit here taking credit because it’s community people who have sat on advisory boards, it’s the Women’s Auxiliary, the many volunteers, the people who have attended the worship part. Nothing lasts for 100 years without a lot of people being involved. It’s just a rich history but a history of service. That’s what we want to celebrate,” Ken said.
“Based on faith,” Sina said. “It’s an honor to be able to serve through the Salvation Army.”
“The important thing is, when people come here for help, we reach out to them as people. We don’t discriminate. You come, you have a need, we’re going to try and see if we can help you,” Ken said.
“In some ways, it hasn’t changed at all, but I think just the method in the way that we do it (has). But the basic mission of helping, meeting people’s needs in the name of Jesus without discrimination, that has not changed from 1921 until now,” said Warsaw Salvation Army Envoy Ken Locke.
The Warsaw Salvation Army is celebrating its 100th year of helping people this year. Capt. and Mrs. Fred Harvey came to Warsaw in 1921. In February 1921, Harvey presented to the Warsaw Rotary Club at the Hays Hotel – downtown Warsaw where Lake City Bank is now – that the Army was going to open in Warsaw and start an assistance program and try to reach out to the unchurched people in the community. Their first office was at City Hall, opening in March 1921.
“They moved around a lot, but in 1939, they moved into a building on Detroit and Main streets, basically where CVS is now,” Ken said. “From what I can tell, they really struggled during the Depression to even stay open, but I don’t know that for sure. I’m sure it was hard. I don’t know how they did it actually.”
The Salvation Army moved to its current location at 501 E. Arthur St., Warsaw, in 1957. The capital campaign was conducted by Brig. Brice Phillipson. The United Way was formed in 1958 with the Salvation Army being one of its charter partners.
Since the Salvation Army came to Warsaw, it has had many officers to oversee its operation. Ken said, in general, there was a new officer almost every two years. Ken has been back to Warsaw as an employee since 1997, and estimated he’s seen about 12 sets of officers during his time. Ken and his wife Sina are the corps administrators for the Army.
“There’s a difference between being an officer and an employee,” said Sina. “And they can’t move us. That’s the one big thing,” Ken said. Sina said they still have a lot of responsibility in their roles.
One of the biggest changes for the Salvation Army, Ken said, is that there are more agencies out there now helping people in various ways. “In 1921, we were probably it. And now, you have a lot of social service agencies, so there’s much more work in collaborating and working together in the community in that way,” he said.
He said having those other social service agencies out there is a blessing in the sense that “you can venture out and take care of needs that other agencies aren’t doing. And (Combined Community Services) and us and Fellowship Missions, too, we’ve all kind of taken our niche and we work on that. And then we’ll take on something that maybe another agency is not doing.”
It takes time to coordinate with other agencies, he said, but technology has help with that. Salvation Army, CCS and a couple other agencies have a program called Charity Tracker that allows them to coordinate more quickly in trying to meet people’s needs, Ken said.
Salvation Army used to have a thrift store, Sina said. It closed in the early 2000s. The last location for the thrift store was at 326 N. Detroit St., where it had opened March 19, 2001. Prior to that, it was at the Salvation Army’s 501 E. Arthur St. location. Sina said Fort Wayne takes its donations, but there’s no indication a Salvation Army thrift store will return to Warsaw. Ken said the money generated from the thrift store helped the Army fulfill its mission. Ken said there were many reasons the thrift store closed, including people now sell their good stuff online and the cost to haul the trash that was left has increased dramatically. Sina said the Salvation Army also wanted to streamline their stores, too.
With the thrift store gone, Ken said that freed up the Arthur Street building so they could put in a food pantry and have programs like the diaper and Angel of Hope programs. “We’ve been able to move in that direction and do some different things,” he said.
The number of people the Salvation Army is helping now is pretty high, he said. “There was assistance being given out, but not to the scale that it is now. There is a lot of help going out to people, not just from the Salvation Army, but a lot of agencies. That’s a big change.”
While the assistance level is not the most he’s ever seen, Ken said the late 1970s and early 1980s were pretty busy because inflation was so high, though he wasn’t with the Army then. Since Ken’s been in Warsaw, he said 2009 was bad because of the Great Recession. “We do worry about that coming back,” Sina said. Ken stated, “We don’t know what the post-COVID (pandemic) is going to look like because we have helped a lot of people, but not huge levels. Now people are going to go back to work, which is a good thing, or losing unemployment and not having planned real well, so that’s going to be interesting.”
The Salvation Army offers a worship service at 11 a.m. Sundays. “We’re trying to catch people at touchpoints,” Ken said. Sina does women’s ministries.
“The Army tries to take a holistic approach to people,” Ken said.
“So our church isn’t just Sunday. It’s the people we see all week long,” Sina said.
“So we’re praying with them in the alley. Sometimes out here while we’re giving them assistance, especially during COVID, we’re doing a lot of praying. A lot of people were scared. We were doing a lot of that,” Ken said. “A lot of our spiritual stuff is not necessarily tied to just a worship service. We’re trying to reach people where they’re at and kind of work in that direction.”
Sina said Ken is so well-known in the community that people will come into the Salvation Army just to talk to him. “It’s that one-on-one or a couple, family with him, or someone in the alley praying with him. It’s really impactful. And sometimes the people, we’ll see them in church. They might stay and continue to attend, but it’s a small percentage that really get involved in the church ministry,” she said.
Ken said the Salvation Army isn’t church-focused, it’s ministry-focused.
The organization relies greatly on donations, including many gift in-kind donations. Sina said the Salvation Army has been very blessed as people have been generous toward it.
The Salvation Army was started in 1865 in England. It’s now in over 120 countries around the world.
“We always say to each other, people know the Salvation Army but they really don’t know what we do. They just know we’re out there,” Ken said. “It seems like when a disaster comes, people know that the Salvation Army is going to be there, helping.”
Besides providing assistance to those affected by COVID-19 in March 2020, it did a big push for Hurricane Katrina in 2005; served in 2001 when a tornado hit Warsaw; responded to a tornado in 1974 in Warsaw; and served when the Palm Sunday tornadoes hit in 1965.
The Warsaw Salvation Army serves Whitley and Kosciusko counties.
The Salvation Army will have an open house with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce Oct. 7. They will have a table at Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts during its production of “Guys & Dolls.” There’s been some other smaller events, with some other events like a homecoming in October being planned.
“There have been so many people to make these 100 years happen. We certainly don’t sit here taking credit because it’s community people who have sat on advisory boards, it’s the Women’s Auxiliary, the many volunteers, the people who have attended the worship part. Nothing lasts for 100 years without a lot of people being involved. It’s just a rich history but a history of service. That’s what we want to celebrate,” Ken said.
“Based on faith,” Sina said. “It’s an honor to be able to serve through the Salvation Army.”
“The important thing is, when people come here for help, we reach out to them as people. We don’t discriminate. You come, you have a need, we’re going to try and see if we can help you,” Ken said.
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