SA Capt. Tom Richmond President Tom Midkiff )left) greets Capt. Richmond

June 24, 2008

"We need to build some bridges," Salvation Army's new area commander told Putnam Rotarians today. "When we start talking about what's best for Putnam County, for Kanawha County, for Clay and Roane County, we have to work together as a team with Habitat for Humanity, with Mountain Mission, with United Way.

"We've been trying to go solo for many years," says Capt. Tom Richmond. "It just doesn't work.

"If you go solo then you start building walls up that can't be penetrated."

The Army owns four "Liberty houses" on Charleston's west side, transitional homes where a family can live for up to a year.

While in a Liberty house, the family lives rent-free with utilities paid while they learn coping skills.

Richmond cited the case of a 34-year-old single woman with three children who had been living out of a car.

Now one of the children has a scholarship to the University of Charleston, and another is going into her senior year with a 3.8 grade point average.

"We worked with Habitat for Humanity," he said. "The family lives today in its own home. The house is paid for. The mother has learned computer skills that enable her to sustain herself and give something back to the community.

"We want to be a partner in this community that people can turn to in time of crisis," he said.

In his first year in the Kanawha Valley, Capt. Richmond has had to make some changes.

The thrift store in St. Albans has been closed. "The mission of the Salvation Army is to reach out to people in every way we can, but when we saw that money was not coming into that store, and it was not feeding into that community properly -- we were losing quite a bit of money every year -- we had to close it down.

"We still have social services there. We have a church in St. Albans, a boys and girls club with a membership of about 75 kids.

"Our director is partnering with the Ayash Center. The Ayash Center is giving memberships to all of our kids to use the gym and be a part of the programs that are going on over there.

"The good name of the Salvation Army in St. Albans has given us an opportunity to help those kids through another agency, and I think it's going to continue to grow. And eventually we're going to have to build another building over there. We're going to have to get our own gym.

"But as it stands now, the community in St. Albans is saying, 'It's vital that you are here, and we want to help.'"

Richmond talked about.the Christmas season. "Christmas begins for us January one and goes all year," he told the group. "The Angel Tree program, the Red Kettle program, the feeding program that we do for Thanksgiving as well as Christmas -- that wheel continues to roll throughout the year.

"Some people tell me we send out too many mail appeals. I say read them. You don't have to send money, but see what's going on. and know that when you get those [mailings] that there is a need.

"We are working hard so that the folks in our community who need us the most will know that, one, we are there; two, that we're not going anywhere -- we've been here in the Charleston area 103 years this year -- and, third, that whenever something arises, we know that we can turn to the people in the community and say, please come alongside us."

Participation in the Salvation Army community charity and its support has been an ongoing project for Putnam Rotary.