Captain:  Social Services Manager Crystal invites you to unpack all that The Salvation Army is to Fond du Lac County now and opens the door to new hope. (Click here to watch Captain Christina's powerful explanation of our vision for 2024 and beyond.)

Who is The Salvation Army of Fond du Lac now?

We have long been known for our coats in the Fall, free cold lunches in summer, gifts at Christmas and seven seasons as winter warming shelter host. We are that…AND more.

Ours is a “big picture” perspective,  a circle of supportive service we have been evolving, growing and molding into since 1890.

In October 2023, we pioneered the county’s first Housing Retention, encircled our community into an addiction treatment recovery opportunity and renewed our Pathway of Hope. Added together with the food pantry, thrift store, ministry, and seasonal programs, our circle of service is now FDL County’s most thorough answer to  need, one that fuels an endgame to homelessness & powers a path to recovery; addresses immediate need and forges long term stability. The impact of this circle will be exponentially more profound and beneficial to participants than any other program The Salvation Army of Fond du Lac has offered before and, arguably, that the county has ever seen before.

Our CIRCLE: 

Addiction Recovery solutions for those that are ready to take their lives back and to get and stay clean. For those that are ready, we commit to connecting and transporting them to one of our Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Centers,  180-day residential work-therapy programs providing spiritual, social, and emotional assistance. 

With two trained substance abuse counselors on staff, we are able to walk through the process and celebrate the outcomes.  

Housing Retention Program, helps households over severe, but temporary financial crisis because of negative instances surrounding physical health , mental health, loss of job, domestic abuse, human trafficking   Our goal is to get them while there is still a chance to prevent them from becoming homeless, and keep them going past the point of financial crisis, out of eviction's path.   To be accepted into his program, adults must be willing to receive supportive case management, implement goal planning, money management, sound employment skill building, and utilize circle of support suggested for them. 

Pathway of Hope,  is for families in crisis. This is intensive one - to - one work, a partnership with a professionally trained caseworker - mentor. With regular meetings, hard work and lots of encouragement, obstacles are overcome, goals reached and each participating family creates an environment they can thrive in and the ability to "course correct" their circumstances. 

Emotional & Spiritual Guidance

Tangible Essential Items:  food,  clothing, household items, children's school supplies, personal care items, city bus passes, work boots, access to laundry & our seasonal Coats for Kids, Christmas Angel Tree, & summer Brown Bag Lunch Program.

If COVID times taught us one thing it is that it takes one major life circumstance to knock people off their feet. After COVID, we saw more people who used to be donors now struggling and coming to us for assistance. We spent  7 years serving as host of a warming shelter, learning the 'why' of those with no where to call home.  We recognize that we can be a part of preventing the numbers of people experiencing homelessness from rising in our community.

We want to help people who are in the crisis to move forward to being financially stable. Once people become homeless, getting them into housing continues to be an issue because of the national housing crisis. Therefore, keeping people in their homes is just as essential and crucial to stopping another 6% from becoming homeless here. 

Welcome to our new era of service, a full circle of compassion, accountability, hard work & achievement.

Deep instead of Wide takes time:

Over the years, we have done a lot of good work in the community, helping many individuals and families in crisis. We have helped with the band aid fix. We helped lots of people with a little and it made a big impact in that moment for someone but a small impact in the scope of helping to really create change in their circumstances. As we move forward with our new approach, we are pulling back from putting a heavy emphasis on the emergency services and moving toward shifting into a greater emphasis on the whole person, the whole circumstance, the whole family.

What you can expect from this circle?

• Focus on prevention instead of reacting to the results of a household in crisis
•  Address the root problems instead of just the crisis.
• Keep an episodic  crisis from becoming chronic.
• Continued support, even past the exit of the program.
• Incredible staff, professional subject matter educators, compassionate volunteers, advisory board to create a culture to innovate and adapt 

Four Phases to Creating a Robust Circle:

Phase One – Shift our Model: Roll out Housing Retention Program & Addiction Recovery Options

Phase Two – Shift ourselves: Training, Renovations, Dream Meetings, Invite those we serve to the table, Advisory Board Partners

Phase Three – Build it Up: Peer to Peer Support (Hope Nights, Celebrate Recovery, Mentorship Program, Create a family of support)

Phase Four – Keep adapting and growing as it evolves to continue meeting needs

Why is this important to our community, our county?

The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates a person experiencing chronic homelessness costs the taxpayer an average of $35,000 a year (2016). 12 households of 4 served through housing retention means a $1 .6 million savings.

It takes time to build something new. It is always a slow start. However, each year, we will be able to measure the growth and impact and be able to unfold the next goals for the next year.

We believe that the longer-term effects will ripple – we will be able to share those successes as they come.

We hope that you can get behind us and support this new chapter in our history of service to our community.  If you have questions, please contact us. 

To learn more, click here.