RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 10, 2010) -- The Salvation Army of Wake County today unveiled a capital campaign for construction of a new center which is the first major expansion of Salvation Army facilities locally in more than three decades.
The Campaign for Hope – Building the Center of Hope is a $12 million fundraising campaign to build a 41,000-square-foot facility to replace the Salvation Army’s center on South Person Street in downtown Raleigh.
The proposed center addresses the Salvation Army’s core mission of serving the needy of Wake County which campaign organizers say is especially acute in the face of the largest economic downturn in 50 years or more.
“This is the first time in decades the Salvation Army has turned to our community to help us better meet the mounting needs we see all around us in Wake County – the need for more shelter, serving more food, offering more hope,” said James F. Goodmon, Jr., co-chair of the capital campaign and vice president of Capital Broadcasting Co.’s New Media Group, at the site today where the Center of Hope will be built.
The proposed center is to be located at 1863 Capital Blvd. at what once was the Edwards & Broughton Printing Co. facility. The renovation of the brick structure will include a 92-bed women and children’s shelter that almost triples what the current facility can offer. It also will include a full-service commercial kitchen, classrooms for lifestyle, job and parenting training, dedicated space for an expanded pantry and food storage and age-appropriate playrooms for children. The facility will also house a new dental clinic for the homeless and uninsured.
The campaign announced today it has received more than $7.1 million in early commitments including the two largest gifts – a $2.5 million pledge from Stephen and Judy D. Zelnak and a $1 million pledge from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation. The pledges will include naming the facility the Judy D. Zelnak Center of Hope and the Barbara A. Goodmon Women & Children’s Shelter. Stephen Zelnak is the chairman of the board and recently retired chief executive officer of Martin Marietta Materials. Barbara Goodmon, president and executive director of the Fletcher Foundation, is the campaign’s co-chair and the mother of campaign co-chair James Goodmon, Jr.
The new center will also house administrative offices for the Salvation Army which has outgrown its facility on South Person Street. Established at the site in 1950, the current facility is 40 years old and the available space is unsuitable for expansion.
In today’s economy, the Salvation Army turns away on average up to 80 families a night for food, shelter or other needs. Even so, the organization helped more than 120,000 individuals in Wake County in 2009 – some 10 percent of Wake County’s population – providing a range of services from disaster response, soup lines and other meals, help with utility bills, counseling and basic skills development. This past Christmas the Salvation Army provided gifts for 5,600 children through it’s Angel Tree program and feeds 150 nightly at its soup line.
“We’ve served the community from the same humble downtown Raleigh location and the Center of Hope funded through this campaign will be the means for us to do more good and meet the unwavering mission of the Salvation Army,” said Capt. Greg Davis, commanding officer of the Salvation Army of Wake County.
The only capital campaign previously undertaken by the Salvation Army in Wake County occurred more than 30 years ago for construction of the organization’s community center at 902 Wake Forest Road.
“In this time where we can see evidence of need all around us – even in a prosperous city like Raleigh – we have an obligation to “do the most good’ and that’s a real challenge with our current facilities,” said Paige Bagwell, executive director of development for the Salvation Army, about the existing center which has about 13,000 square feet of space.
Organizers point to the Salvation Army as having one of the best records for stewardship of donations – some 94 cents of every dollar going to those in need.
The Center of Hope campaign has created a leadership cabinet made up of senior executives of Springmoor Retirement Community, Baker Roofing Co., Waste Industries, McLaurin Parking Co. the Fletcher Foundation and CBC’s New Media Group. The campaign also has a 20-member steering committee.
The organization hopes to achieve the bulk of its fundraising objectives before the end of this year with renovation starting in the fall and a move into the renovated building by the summer of 2011.
As proposed Center of Hope will include:
-92 beds for women and children
-dental clinic for homeless and uninsured
-confidential case management rooms
-full-service commercial kitchen
-dedicated counseling offices
-prayer room
-larger dining room for soup line and residents
-classroom and resource center
-three age-appropriate play areas
-safe and secure indoor & outdoor recreation area
-expanded pantry and food storage
-State of the art computer labs meeting spaces
-5600-square-foot storehouse for disaster supplies and crisis management
-storage pantry for hygiene and toiletry items
-administrative offices
-convertible meeting space
-further development & expansion of existing programs and ministries
For more information about The Center for Hope campaign, visit www.buildingthecenterofhope.org. Contact: Piage Bagwell 919-834-6733 Ext. 204 or paige.bagwell@uss.salvationarmy.org
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