A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E S A LVAT I O N A R M Y S O U T H ER N T ER R I TO R Y
JUNE 2023
VO L 3 9
ISSUE 6
NORTH TEXAS COMMAND PLANS MEGA SOCIAL SERVICE COMPLEX B Y LT. C O L O N E L A L L E N S AT T E R L E E Poor, homeless and searching for answers, the single mother dashed inside to get someone to help her. The Uber driver was impatient, forcing her five children (ranging in age from one to seven) to get out of the van in a cold, steady rain. The family’s few possessions were unceremoniously piled onto the parking lot while the children stood bewildered, holding each other, caught between being forced out of the van and waiting for their mother to come back. It was at this point that my conversation with Captain Maxie DeBlanc stopped mid-sentence as she quickly sized up what was happening. Running out to the children, she began comforting them while giving instructions for staff to come help. Immediately, a half dozen people abandoned what they were doing, hurrying out to the children. Some escorted the children in out of the rain while others gathered armfuls of belongings as the Uber driver drove off. About this time a frantic mother returned to find the van gone, her children and possessions missing. Captain DeBlanc was quickly at her side, explaining what was happening, gently leading her inside to where her children were waiting. Less than five minutes had passed as the Carr P. Collins staff compassionately rendered service that would never be recorded on a statistical sheet. Carr P. Collins Social Service Center
T H E S A LVAT I O N A R M Y 1424 N O R T H E A S T E X PR E S S WAY AT L A N TA , G A 3 0 3 2 9 W W W. SO U T H ER N US A . S A LVAT I O N A R M Y.O RG
When it opened in 1986, the Carr P. Collins Center in Dallas, Texas became The Salvation Army’s largest social service center anywhere in the
Rendering of the Chapel of the North Texas Social Service Complex
world at 128,000 square feet on seven acres of land. It has held that distinction ever since. Each night it houses 475 people, but in emergency situations that number increases to 600. Besides its size, the center revolutionized how the Army delivered social services by providing a comprehensive, one stop center that met human needs at their most basic levels. Anchored by its Christian message through the Harbor Light Corps, the center continues to provide a wide variety of services, including: • Domestic Violence residential and non-residential services • Veteran’s programs including housing, clinical treatment, meals, clothes, bathroom and laundry facilities • Shelter care for men, women and women with children who are homeless. Services include temporary and transitional housing with supportive services • Food pantry
• Emergency assistance for rent and utilities as well as other needs •
Financial education
• Substance abuse program structured in several levels to help insure success Overwhelmed As the years have gone by the center has adapted to emerging needs. For example, when it started almost all homelessness was found among single men. But the demographics have changed dramatically with homeless women with children showing a tragic increase as housing issues force many out into the streets. Space has had to be reassigned with the barber shop and storage spaces converted to housing and office space. The facility has not aged well. After over 40 years of extreme use, it has become a proverbial money pit, costing millions of dollars to maintain “North Texas...” continued on page 2
Aerial map of the new North Texas Social Service Complex