The Salvation Army Opens ‘First of its Kind’ Boys & Girls Club in St. Petersburg

BY BRAD ROWLAND

On Sept. 16, 2022, Commissioner Kelly Igleheart, territorial commander, served as the keynote speaker at the ribbon cutting of a special project in St. Petersburg, Florida. An evolving partnership between The Salvation Army and Boys & Girls Clubs of America led to the opening of the first-ever Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club in the state of Florida.

The club, housed at The Salvation Army’s already existing facility in St. Petersburg, is equipped to support up to 450 young people at a time, with the eventual goal to serve 40,000 children annually.

“We are honored to partner with The Salvation Army to support even more youth in the Tampa Bay region as we work diligently to reach our goal of supporting 40,000 youth annually by 2025,” stated Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast CEO & President Freddy Williams. “In collaboration with the great Salvation Army team, our staff will support kids by providing early literacy and workforce development programming to support community members’ academic and professional success.”

Previous to the 2022-23 school year, the Boys & Girls Clubs utilized the corps building for summer programming, laying the groundwork for the expanded partnership. Captains William and Veronica Conley, corps officers, arrived in 2020 and began to discuss the future with Williams and his BGC team.

“We always felt very passionately that, in any appointment that we’ve held, the ministries that take place inside the corps building need to align with our overall mission of The Salvation Army to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in His name without discrimination,” said Captain William Conley. “We discovered that alignment and the belief that the Boys & Girls Club would help to further those tenets in our community.”

Following an extensive meeting and planning process, Captain Conley felt led to continue and grow the partnership into a complete Boys & Girls Club unit. Salvation Army leadership and Boys & Girls Club leadership ironed out potential gaps, down to the finer details of logistics and job descriptions for staff.

“I really felt in my spirit that, even though there were challenges that were difficult to get over, God would not let me get away from what He put in my heart,” Captain Conley said. “We were able to create a new system, a new way of looking at ministry. And they even went so far as to alter the job descriptions for employees of this club to bolster this new alignment.”

Several employees are soldiers of the St. Petersburg Corps, including a pair of prospective candidates for Salvation Army officership. The new club setup also includes crossover appeal with previously existing programs with Sallie House and Children’s Village in the St. Petersburg area.

“There is a great crossover with Sallie House and Children’s Village and all of the children are able to participate in the after-school and Boys & Girls Club programming,” said Captain Conley. “It’s a wonderful and beautiful thing to see how easy and seamless it has been and how great the response has been from the community.”

Beyond the Sallie House and Children’s Village connections, The Salvation Army believes in the integration of a holistic approach, and that includes the Pathway of Hope initiative designed to bolster the futures of families.

“We see this as a great opportunity for a connection that is holistic,” Captain Conley said. “In addition to our no-cost after-school programming, we can offer our Pathway of Hope program to families, and really try to take a holistic approach, not just to the children, but to the entire family and really aim to help others in multiple ways.”

Captain Conley describes the sprouting partnership as an “incredible learning experience” while also standing on the potential of using this experience, and the new club alignment, as a potential example of inspiration across the Salvation Army world.

“The hope is, for the future, that this could be a model for Christ-centered programming that could

WORTH A LOOK : BOOK REVIEW

Drawing from the Word

by Captain Julie Chamberlain

The Southern Territory is pleased to announce the release of its latest book, Drawing from the Word: the Story of Esther by Captain Julie Chamberlain. Both the author and the illustrator, Captain Chamberlain has gifted us with a book that not only provides rich devotional material, but offers room to journal thoughts and color the expertly crafted drawings throughout the book.

The books are available now from multiple outlets. In addition to the Trade South store at THQ, they can be ordered through https://mytradesouth.com, contacting Trade South via email at trade@uss.salvationarmy.org or through Amazon. The book is priced at $8.99 per copy. Bulk order of copies may be eligible for a lower price. Email Mr. Jeremy Rowland for a quote.

be shareable and able to be integrated elsewhere,” he said. “We’re thankful and hoping that our experience could inspire others in Florida and elsewhere to take advantage of potential opportunities that are creative like this to really maximize what we can do in the lives of young people and their families.”