BORN IN 1887 SALVATION ARMY IN L.A. TODAY MARKS 120 YEARS OF GIVING AID.Byline: EUGENE TONG Staff Writer When The Salvation Army Salvation Army, Protestant denomination and international nonsectarian Christian organization for evangelical and philanthropic work. Organization and Beliefs The Salvation Army has established branches in 100 countries throughout the world. formed its Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. chapter May 8, 1887, at an open-air meeting at Temple Street and Broadway, the goal was to offer the indigent indigent 1) n. a person so poor and needy that he/she cannot provide the necessities of life (food, clothing, decent shelter) for himself/herself. 2) n. one without sufficient income to afford a lawyer for defense in a criminal case. life's necessities and a second chance. As the group commemorates 120 years of service today, that mission has remained unchanged. In fact, it has grown to include delivering child care, transitional housing and job training on top of the usual disaster relief. "Certainly in times of disaster, we're serving the coffee out in the streets," said Lt. Col. Paul Bollwahn, the group's local commander. "But we're also helping the family with AIDS in their background. There's care really given from cradle to the grave." Bollwahn can attest to the growing sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. required to serve today's needy. He has spent nearly 40 years with the relief organization, including the past two years as head of the Southern California Division. It stretches from San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (săn l  `ĭs ōbĭs`pō), city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. to Orange County
and east to Pomona, commands 3,400 volunteers, 1,200 employees and an
annual budget of $106 million.
"Our homeless programs are not just come one, come all, three hots and a cot, as they say," Bollwahn said. "It is capacity delivery, helping to assess where they are and where they would like to be and helping them and directing them in the way to do that." Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose 9th District includes downtown's Skid Row, cannot imagine delivering social services without the agency. "We'd be in a big deficit if we didn't have them here contributing their time and programs and bringing people along the continuum of recovery," she said. "The number of people they take through these programs is astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. ." The group -- which serves about 2 million people a year -- also is intertwined with emergency relief in natural disaster-prone Southern California. Disaster coordinator June Loo has helped organize the response to such local tragedies as the 1992 riots, the Malibu fire in 1993 and the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. "In a disaster, it's easy to get very much sidetracked and try to solve every possible problem," said Loo, who has worked in emergency services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' for 25 years. "You can't do that. ... Don't get discouraged and just know you have a job to do and stick with it." eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com (818) 546-3304 CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) Salvation Army Divisional Commander Lt. Col. Paul Bollwahn is seen among memorabilia at The Salvation Army Division headquarters in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or on Tuesday. David Sprague/Staff Photographer (2 -- 3) Physicist Albert Einstein posed with The Salvation Army Band A Salvation Army Band refers to a brass band for a Corps of the Salvation Army. In society, a Salvation Army Band playing in public places during Christian events in the calendar such as Christmas has become a part of seasonal customs particularly in the UK. before the 1931 Rose Parade, left. At right, Salvation Army operations included handing out food and water after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Salvation Army |
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