Life Skills Center has grand opening at Salvation Army

Bradenton resident Cheryl Carey, 36, lost her job of four years recently and soon after got a three-day eviction notice from her landlord and a shut-off notice from Florida Power & Light.

Other bills were starting to stack up and she had no way of paying them.

She went to the Salvation Army of Manatee County for help with her bills.

On Wednesday, Carey was the guest speaker during the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the Salvation Army’s new Pathway of Hope Life Skills Center at 1204 14th St. W., Bradenton, which was the same program that teaches skills such as how to save money and budget for bills that Salvation Army officials asked her to enter when she sought their help.

Trembling, Carey told her success story to a crowd of 70 inside the new center building, which was formerly the large space occupied by the Salvation Army’s food pantry. The pantry has now been dissolved since there are many other pantries close by in the area and life skills training has been determined to be a critical need, according to Salvation Army officials.

She told the crowd she feared she and her children could be homeless and living out of their car.

“I didn’t think they would give me another chance because years ago I didn’t follow through with what was on my case plan,” Carey said, referring to the case management system that the Salvation Army and other agencies use to not just help people pay bills but teach them self-sufficiency, Carey said.

But the Salvation Army did put Carey on a case management plan and Carey is now on more secure footing and learning how to stay there, she said.

“The Pathway of Hope program is teaching me how to budget my money and learn how to save,” Carey said. “It is also helping me with other appointments and things like that. I always try to send people to the Pathway of Hope program when I find out they are homeless or about to be homeless. The program is here to help. All you have to do is ask.”

Prospective classes will include budgeting and saving money, anger management, financial success, personal integrity, effective communication, coping mechanisms, family roles, understanding substance abuse as well as GED classes and workforce readiness classes, among others, said Salvation Army spokeswoman Kelly French.

Prior to Wednesday, Hope Life Skills clients, like Carey, met wherever space allowed on the campus.

A national initiative

Pathways is a nationwide Salvation Army initiative, said Julie Showers, the Salvation Army’s business administrator and master of ceremonies for the grand opening.

“Pathways is about lifting clients from crisis and vulnerability to stability,” Showers told the crowd. “We like to lift people out of the cycle of case management and onto a pathway of hope.”

The program helps clients improve on the strengths they already possess, Showers added.

Beginning in July, parenting classes will be held twice weekly in the new space and veterans in a housing program will meet weekly with a case worker from the Veterans Administration, French said.

The crowd is very positive

Many representatives of local agencies were on hand and, in response to questions, Showers explained that “yes,” the program is open to the community and “no,” there is not transportation available to it yet.

Showers also said that volunteers are needed to teach the life skills and their credentials will be checked.

“I think it meets a great, great need in this community to give skills to people who do not have them,” said Ed Dick, a long-time community activist, who attended the ribbon cutting.

This week, instead of buying other things, as she would do in the past, Carey said she paid her rent.

Anyone interested in teaching classes or for more information on enrolling in the program should contact Lynn Rosa at 941-748-5110.

This story was originally published June 28, 2017 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Life Skills Center has grand opening at Salvation Army."