by John Dowd
Many in the valley may not realize that Ravalli County is home to their very own Salvation Army headquarters, even though the organization has lived in the valley for over 30 years. It is led by Director Fidelis Temukum, who is also the pastor for Cornerstone Bible Church. After the Salvation Army in Hamilton went downhill, they needed to bring someone in to breathe new life into the program. Temukum started in October of 2016, and immediately increased their budget and started adding new programs. In 2017, the Salvation Army moved to their current location, which is one reason why many may not be aware of the program’s existence.
When a person looks on the Salvation Army website, it shows the Hamilton branch still at their old location. Now, the Hamilton Salvation Army is located at 217 N. 3rd Street. It is also hard to find, as a search on Google may not show that any Salvation Army location exists south of Missoula in Montana. Temukum and his team are working to fix these issues, among everything else they do, which can be quite a full schedule.
The Hamilton Salvation Army addresses numerous needs in the community, especially related to housing and homelessness. Some of these include mortgage assistance, transportation vouchers, emergency shelter, disaster response, budget assistance, counseling and much more.
“We are not here just to give money to people,” said Temukum.
The director also said that the Salvation Army provides things like hygiene supplies, and diapers, both of which insurance may not cover. The Hamilton Salvation Army also has food boxes available which they try to constantly keep filled.
A new addition Temukum was excited to announce were the two new showers in the Salvation Army office. These have been a need and a want for a long time, according to Temukum. The director said the Hamilton Salvation Army in years past gave out shower vouchers for a location that changed hands and now no longer partners with the nonprofit. To fill the need, the Salvation Army fundraised and got close to $20,000 in a single week.
“This valley is generous. We are so thankful,” said Temukum.
They were able to add space, which also brought up the price for the Salvation Army to rent their office space. Now, the Salvation Army showers can serve up to eight people a day, and can give people in need a moment of dignity and privacy.
“It’s a hard thing to live without a shower and go to work,” said Temukum. According to him, the people they help are not always what many traditionally think of as “homeless.” Temukum has observed that many are victims of the high housing market, and some make over $60,000 a year, have families and even kids that go to school. These people have found themselves living out of their car or camper after not being able to keep up with rising housing costs.
“We’ve seen families come in with their children. We’ve seen construction workers,” said Temukum about the new showers.”These are good people, and this is really a blessing to the community.”
The Hamilton Salvation Army also does a back-to-school program, sending kids to Old Navy in Missoula to purchase new clothes. This year, they were able to help 52 kids, giving out $150 to each of them.
Temukum said the holidays are the high-time of their year, and they want to send every kid home with a toy for Christmas. The Hamilton Salvation Army will distribute toys on Dec. 20 to local families. They have been collecting the toys for the last couple of months, and the children and families receiving the gifts applied beforehand. This year Temukum was excited to say they will be helping 200 kids. They also plan to give grocery gift cards to each of the families of the kids receiving toys, as well as several additional cards to community members in need.
The Salvation Army program is separate from Toys for Tots, and their program can reach kids of a wider age range, going up to 18 years old, unlike Toys for Tots. To Temukum, that is one reason why they still feel the need to continue their toy drive.
Another part of the busy holiday season for the Hamilton Salvation Army is the bell ringing. This time of year is where the organization gets most of their funding for the entire year. 100% of the funds donated to bellringers in a given county stays within the given county. According to Temukum, “No money goes to corporate. In fact, corporate sends more money to us.” To him, this can give confidence to donors that their donations will stay in their own community.
However, the odds are still against the Salvation Army. Within just a month they work to raise at least $50,000. This year, Temukum says they may not even make it half way. They ring bells outside of various locations between Nov. 20 and Dec. 23. Part of the problem is getting volunteers. “We need a lot of help,” said Temukum.
To donate, people can simply drop some change into the bellringers’ buckets, or they can drop off checks at the Hamilton Salvation Army Office. They cannot accept cash at their location.
When asked why he does what he does for the Salvation Army, Temukum explained that for him, it’s personal. Temukum himself was once homeless, and says now he is a homeowner. His success was only due to the help he received from others.
“I know what it means to go hungry. I know what it means to suffer. We are here to show love,” Temukum said. “God is love. Homelessness didn’t start today. We had hungry people in the time of Jesus. Jesus didn’t chase them away and call them lazy. As a matter of fact, he fed them.”
According to Temukum, “We want them to know that they are loved and we want them to know that God is still writing their story.”
Temukum is extremely thankful for the people that volunteer. “We have great people around us that are helping.”
For those looking for more information about the Hamilton Salvation Army, they can contact Temukum and his staff of volunteers at (406) 210-1453.