The following verbiage is taken from the local Salvation Army website to describe its mission:
The Salvation Army/Medford Citadel offers families a hand up; not a hand out.
It is our goal to get people back on their feet and into a better life. When times are tough, we are there for children, families, and seniors in Jackson County with necessities such as food, heat, and more.
Emergency food bags
Utility assistance
Assistance for seniors 65 and older
Clothing
Furniture
Other services
Men, women and families come to us from the street, from camps and cars and find a hand up to help them get back on their feet. Broken lives are mended. Parents are reunited with children. A second chance becomes a better life.
On a daily basis, we are changing people’s lives, restoring families, and providing hope. Since 1996, The Salvation Army’s Hope House in Medford has helped Jackson County’s homeless get back on their feet. Hope House is a drug and alcohol free transitional living facility that accommodates single men, single women and families. Living facilities include individual rooms and dorms for single men and women. For families, home is one large room when they first come to Hope House.
The Salvation Army’s transitional programs move people from the streets to stability to employment and finally to a home. At Hope House, children find a safe, alcohol and drug free place to call home while their parents get back on their feet. Hope House provides a safe and clean environment supported by 24-hour, seven-day-a-week case management and supportive services. Clients become healthy physically, mentally and emotionally. They complete drug and alcohol treatment, reunite with children, get jobs, pay debt, start saving money and learn valuable life skills to help them become self-sufficient.
After-School Program
For many children, their time after school is spent in an empty house without supervision until a parent comes home from work. We fill that important – and lonely – gap with a free after-school program for children in kindergarten through 7th grade. In addition to a safe, supervised environment, our program offers children learning activities, games, help with homework.
Summer Camp Fun
The Salvation Army provides a summer day camp program for underprivileged children ages five through 12. Activities include games, crafts, educational activities, Bible study, and field trips.
In addition to day camp, we also take children to a week-long summer camp at The Army’s scenic Camp Kuratli outside of Portland. During the program, children explore 180 beautiful acres of wooded slopes, trails, creeks, and meadows. They also learn and develop skills in swimming, soccer, basketball, arts and crafts, and music.