Why is there no more Soup Line at The Center of Hope?

A couple of years ago the Salvation Army Center of Hope had a soup kitchen that was accessible to those that needed it. Anybody that needed a meal used to be able to come every day between 4:00 and 4:30 for a hearty bowl of soup. This included those that were in paid rooms at the Center of Hope. This however is no longer something they do and I believe they should bring it back.

I would like to compliment them for the service they used to provide and encourage them to put it back in place. Saying this, I would also like to point out that I do understand that it was a very costly program and feel that it may be necessary to make some minor changes to make it less costly. I do also understand that they had problems with outside homeless people that were causing some of the problems that shut down this soup line up.

My suggestion would be to provide this service to those that are actual paid clients of the Salvation Army whether it is the Booth clients or Center of Hope clients. This would save them some money and provide at least a meal to those who may be struggling in their transitional housing program.

Even if you provided this service Monday to Friday, I think it would improve the quality of life for those less fortunate. As it stands, you have people who are on assistance receiving limited funds that barely make it through a month. It would help quite a few people. I really hope you consider this.

One Final Note;

Right now you have some of these paid clients coming into the dining area during meal hours looking for leftovers. So this would possibly cut back on people trying to get meals off those in non paid rooms.

By the way, this soup line up wouldn’t apply to those already getting free meals. You could use the same format for the soup kitchen as you do for the non paying clients. That of course is where you use cards and room numbers as a way to track those that are dining.

Just a thought,
Tim Barber
Homeless, but not without HOPE