Salvation Army much bigger than red kettles
By Bob Okon bokon@stmedianetwork.com February 21, 2012 7:52PM
Lt. Dan Simmons and Lt. Claudia Simmons stand Tuesday, January 31, 2012, in front of the newly expanded Salvation Army center, 300 Third Street, in Joliet. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 23, 2012 8:06AM
JOLIET — In one section of the building, kids are tutored after school. In another part, people apply for help paying their utility bills. In a different area, 20 computers are lined up for training.
This is the new Salvation Army Center in Joliet, which offers a variety of social services while retaining its church — one of the organization’s fundamental elements that isn’t well known.
“What surprises people is that we are a church and that we’re the pastors,” said Lt. Claudia Simmons, who heads up the local Salvation Army center with her husband, Lt. Daniel Simmons.
Much of what the Salvation Army does would surprise people, the Simmonses say.
And, the Salvation Army in Joliet is doing a lot more after expanding the community center at Richards Street and Third Avenue last year. The Joliet center was quadrupled in size to 28,000 square feet.
The Simmonses recently gave a tour of the facility’s new gym, classroom, recreational room, computer training room and more.
The Salvation Army’s name is known everywhere, thanks in large part to the fundraising drive at Christmas time in which bell ringers seek contributions via the familiar red kettles.
Many give, Daniel said, but, “They have no idea what it goes to.”
Physical and spiritual
The Simmonses, who arrived in Joliet in July, are the first officers in charge of center since the expansion’s completion. Much of their time these days is devoted to putting the building to use.
Among the things happening there are a support group for women, a reading program and basketball for neighborhood youths in the new gym.
“Our mission here is to serve everyone without discrimination,” Claudia said. “We try to serve them physically. We try to serve them spiritually.”
Spirituality is part of everything done at the Salvation Army Center.
Even a local wrestling club is required to say a prayer when using the gym for its practices because, well, that’s what the Salvation Army ultimately is about.
“We show the love of Christ through the after-school program, utility assistance and everything we do,” Daniel said.
Everyone is welcome, Daniel and Claudia emphasize. But good behavior is expected, especially in programs that involve young people.
Daniel started the basketball program in the new gym, hoping to meet the physical and spiritual needs in the neighborhood. There’s no trash talk during games at the Salvation Army, he said. When a couple of regular players uses language that would not be acceptable in church, he had to usher them out.
“It’s not just about respecting the building and respecting God; it’s about respecting each other,” he said. “I’m hoping they will leave here with more than just a sweaty shirt.”
Daniel expects the two players to return, hopefully better for the experience.
Longtime church
The Salvation Army was started in 1852 by William Booth who walked the streets of London preaching the Gospel and seeking converts to Christianity among thieves, prostitutes, gamblers and drunkards.
But you don’t have to be a thief, prostitute, gambler or drunkard to be part of the Salvation Army.
Daniel grew up going to the Salvation Army church in Elgin. When he started dating Claudia in high school, he began bringing her to the church.
“Ever since then, I never left,” Claudia said.
Daniel Schepers of Tinley Park had a similar experience. He was brought to the Salvation Army in DeKalb in 1982 by his wife Jeanetta, who grew up in the church. Schepers also stayed.
“What I found was a true, practical, valuable application of Christian principles in the Salvation Army,” Schepers said.
He and his wife both attend church services at the Joliet center, teach Sunday school there and volunteer for such activities as the Christmas charitable drive.
For the first time, in December, the Salvation Army was able to hand out toys and clothing collected at the Joliet facility for the holidays. In past years, an empty car dealership on West Jefferson Street had to be used because there was not enough space at the center.
“Every year that was a challenge: Where do we find space to do this?” he said.
The expansion was the solution.
‘A positive factor’
The Scheperses joined the Joliet church in 2004. The push to expand the Salvation Army building goes back longer than that, said Ralph Bias, chairman of the board at the Joliet center.
“This has been a long process,” Bias said.
Going back about 15 years, there were plans to expand the Joliet facility. Since then, they have been raising funds to pay for it.
Now that it’s done, Bias said, “We have enhanced the environment and it’s easier for kids to get together. What we really want to do is be a positive factor.”
Bias pointed to an example: “Kids come in after school for a mentoring program. Not only that, when they get there, they get a sandwich and someone to help them with their schoolwork.”
The gym is another way to reach out to young people in the community, he said.
And, because of the added space, the Salvation Army now has a room where community organizations can have meetings.
No one is compelled to join the Salvation Army’s church, which has about 30 members. But the “spiritual element” is vital to everything done at the Joliet center, Bias said. Many of the young people served by the Salvation Army have never been part of a church before, he said.
“A lot of the kids that come don’t have a spiritual element in their lives,” he said. “They can say, ‘At least once in my life I was part of an organization with that spiritual element.’ ”
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