70: How The Salvation Army is responding to need and rescuing Christmas with Sabrina Kiser

Consider for a moment that you lost your job at the start of this global pandemic. You had a good job. Last New Year’s Eve you never could have expected to be unemployed. But now you are. Your usual expenses are still due and while you now have no income, you’ve also added new needs—like health insurance. You know this Christmas won’t be like it was last year, but can you really not buy any gifts for your child?

It’s a sobering reality that so many Americans are facing this year.

And as some have said, it’s a disaster without the cleanup. We’re in month nine of the ongoing hurricane.

So while we’ve heard again and again this year that the need is greater, we know that need is personal. It touches individual lives—many who have never needed assistance before.

Sabrina Kiser is the Director of Social Services for The Salvation Army in the western U.S. She oversees initiatives like The Way Out, a plan to double The Salvation Army’s impact on homelessness by 2024. And this year, she has supported the significant expansion of feeding and sheltering in response to COVID-19.

In just the 13 western states, The Salvation Army has provided more than 5.5 million meals, beverages and snacks and some 600,000 nights of lodging since mid-March.

Sabrina is on the show today to explore need from all angles—as the pandemic hit, the outlook right now and as The Salvation Army prepares for what’s to come—especially as we’re currently out to rescue Christmas. 

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