SALVATION ARMY FIGHTS GOOD FIGHT; GLENDALE BRANCH HELPS ERECT EIGHTH SENIOR-CITIZEN RESIDENCE.

Byline: Holly J. Andres Daily News Staff Writer

In the middle of the July heat, Salvation Army church officers and members joined civic and community leaders this week to inaugurate the construction of the eighth affordable, senior-citizen residence operated by the group in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

While the Salvation Army's charity mission may be most visible at the Christmas season, its ``soldiers'' are always busy.

``The Glendale Silvercrest Residence project is just one of the many community outreach services that the Salvation Army church gets involved in year-round,''said Maj. Floyd Bacon, spiritual leader of the Glendale church.

Bacon points out that while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provided the bulk of the funds for the 75-unit residence, it is a joint project also funded by the church and the city of Glendale.

But from where does the social-action image come? Part of the Salvation Army's job, according to its mission statement, is ``to meet human needs in (God's) name without discrimination.''

``Our beginning came out of some pretty bad areas in London in the mid-1800s. Our founder, a Methodist minister, William Booth, had a saying he liked to use: `Soup, soap and salvation.' His reasoning was, How can someone talk about the Lord to a hungry person?

``And along with the hunger, these people probably needed to be clean. Booth said after people are fed and clean, and feel better about themselves, then you'd be able to talk to them about various things, including the Gospel,'' said Bacon, who was ordained in the Salvation Army in 1975.

Bacon's church is involved in a myriad of outreach programs. The Glendale site operates a preschool, a Meals on Wheels program for homebound seniors, a food pantry, social groups for boys and girls ages 7 to 18, and it facilitates a lunch program with 11 other Glendale churches and a service group six days a week.

The church is also the lead agency at the Glendale Service Center, a one-stop clearinghouse where needy families can get help with problems related to mental health, job placement, housing and Social Security issues.

``We have worship, ministry and service to people. We have a driving compulsion to work out our Christian faith to help people,'' said Lt. Col. Alfred R. Van Cleef, the Salvation Army's divisional commander for Southern California.

``My hope is that when the public thinks of the Salvation Army, they think of integrity and response to human needs and a high Christian ethic.''

Beverly Ventriss, director of communications for the group, said that she would like to change perceptions about the Salvation Army.

``I've heard it hundreds of times, that people think of the Salvation Army only in terms of the bell ringers and the thrift shops,'' she said.

``It's so much more. The spirituality permeates the organization, it's not an abstract.''

Sunday morning services at 11 a.m. at the Salvation Army Church, 320 W. Windsor Road, Glendale [phone]. For more information about the Salvation Army, the Web site is: www.salvationarmy-socal.org.