A Time for Every Purpose
2011 Annual Report
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God has ordained certain purposes for us to carry out. He permits challenges to our fulfillment of those purposes. And He provides grace to overcome the challenges and see His purposes accomplished.
In 2010, the opportunities for The Salvation Army were great, the challenges many and, at times, daunting. But God’s grace abounded. The Salvation Army prayed through, pressed through, and, with God’s help, came through for tens of millions of our neighbors.
A Time to Build
Building up spirits and intellects, building stronger families, building more vibrant communities. From Boston and Philadelphia in the East to Idaho and Oregon in the West, The Salvation Army completed and opened five new Kroc Centers in 2010, undeterred by the lingering downturn in the nation’s economy.
Begun from what was, at the time, the largest charitable gift in the nation’s history, the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers offer underserved communities recreational, spiritual, educational, and cultural arts programs of superb quality. Two-thirds of the planned 26 centers around the country are now up and running, open to all ages with programs and services focused on building character, confidence, and capacity for excellence.
A Time To Fight
Appalled and grieved by the trafficking of human beings for labor and sexual exploitation – modern-day slavery – The Salvation Army in 2010 expanded both our outreach to victims and our work to fight the spread of trafficking. Illinois provides an apt example of the scale both of the problem and of the Army’s response. In Chicago alone, as estimated 16,000 to 25,000 women and girls are involved in the sex trade. In 2010, The Salvation Army opened Anne’s House, one of the few homes in the country to offer residential care and long-term therapeutic treatment for sexually exploited young women.
Meanwhile, the STOP-IT Program provides psychological and medical treatment, educational services and vocational training for victims who have been harmed by the sex trade. The Salvation Army also takes the battle directly to the streets with the Promise program (Partnership to Rescue Our Minors from Sexual Exploitation).
In Illinois, 2010 saw a historic victory take shape. The STOP-IT Program, in coordination with the Office of the Illinois Attorney General and other law enforcement agencies, provided support services to two survivors, ages 17 and 18. The effort led to the breakup of a trafficking ring and the first human trafficking convictions in the state’s history.
In early 2011, two men were sentenced to prison.
A Time To Dig Deep
While many economic experts state that, technically, the recession is over, millions of hungry Americans tell a sadly different story. Ninety-five percent of The Salvation Army’s food programs surveyed in 2010 reported increased demand for food services. And though 60 percent of the programs also reported a decline in donations, with God’s help the Army mobilized on a mass scale to feed neighbors in need. We provided more than 64 million meals in 2010.
While demand has stretched us and led to low supplies of food in many of our programs, we believe that as we remain faithful, God will be faithful to supply our needs financially and with volunteer assistance for years to come.
2010: A Season of Seasons
The year brought a great diversity of circumstances – a season of growth and optimism for some areas and Salvation Army programs, a season of great challenge for others; victory on certain fronts, continuing struggle on others. Through it all, with the loyal support of our many friends and partners, we adapted. We responded. We remained faithful to our mission, relevant to the needs of our nation and world. And in the course of the year, we served 30 million Americans.
Through every time and for every purpose to which God has called us, The Salvation Army presses on, joyfully and with determination.