Salvation Army launches $12M capital campaign

The Campaign for Hope aims to raise enough money to build a 41,000-square-foot building at 1863 Capital Blvd. to replace the Salvation Army's 13,000-square-foot center on South Person Street in downtown Raleigh.

Organization officials said demand for its services have grown during the recession.

"This is the first time in decades the Salvation Army has turned to our community to help us better meet the mounting needs we see all around us in Wake County," campaign co-chairman Jimmy Goodmon said.

Goodmon is vice president of Capitol Broadcasting Co., the parent company of WRAL.

The campaign already has received $7.1 million in pledges, including $2.5 million from Stephen and Judy Zelnak and $1 million from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation.

The new center, which will be located in a renovated building that formerly housed a printing company, will include a 92-bed shelter for women and children that is more than triple the size of the Salvation Army's current shelter. The building also will include a dental clinic for the homeless and uninsured, a commercial kitchen, classrooms for job and parenting training, an expanded food pantry and age-appropriate playrooms for children.

"In this time where we can see evidence of need all around us – even in a prosperous city like Raleigh – we have an obligation to do the most good, and that's a real challenge with our current facilities," said Paige Bagwell, the Salvation Army's executive director for development.

The Salvation Army of Wake County helped more than 120,000 people last year. Still, because of space limits, the organization turns away up to 80 families a night who are seeking food, shelter or other needs, officials said.